(A)
No
person shall drive or move, or cause or knowingly permit to be driven or moved,
on any highway any vehicle or combination of vehicles which is in such unsafe
condition as to endanger any person.

(B)
When directed by any state highway patrol trooper, the operator of any motor
vehicle shall stop and submit such motor vehicle to an inspection under
division (B)(1) or (2) of this section, as appropriate, and such tests as are
necessary.

(1)
Any motor
vehicle not subject to inspection by the public utilities commission shall be
inspected and tested to determine whether it is unsafe or not equipped as
required by law, or that its equipment is not in proper adjustment or repair,
or in violation of the equipment provisions of Chapter 4513. of the Revised
Code.

Such inspection shall be
made with respect to the brakes, lights, turn signals, steering, horns and
warning devices, glass, mirrors, exhaust system, windshield wipers, tires, and
such other items of equipment as designated by the superintendent of the state
highway patrol by rule or regulation adopted pursuant to sections
119.01 to
119.13 of the Revised Code.

Upon determining that a
motor vehicle is in safe operating condition and its equipment in conformity
with Chapter 4513. of the Revised Code, the inspecting officer shall issue to
the operator an official inspection sticker, which shall be in such form as the
superintendent prescribes except that its color shall vary from year to
year.

(2)
Any motor
vehicle subject to inspection by the public utilities commission shall be
inspected and tested in accordance with rules adopted by the commission. Upon
determining that the vehicle and operator are in compliance with rules adopted
by the commission, the inspecting officer shall issue to the operator an
appropriate official inspection sticker.

(C)
The
superintendent of the state highway patrol, pursuant to sections
119.01 to
119.13 of the Revised Code, shall
determine and promulgate standards for any inspection program conducted by a
political subdivision of this state. These standards shall exempt licensed
collector's vehicles and historical motor vehicles from inspection. Any motor
vehicle bearing a valid certificate of inspection issued by another state or a
political subdivision of this state whose inspection program conforms to the
superintendent's standards, and any licensed collector's vehicle or historical
motor vehicle which is not in a condition which endangers the safety of persons
or property, shall be exempt from the tests provided in division (B) of this
section.

(D)
Every
person, firm, association, or corporation that, in the conduct of its business,
owns and operates not less than fifteen motor vehicles in this state that are
not subject to regulation by the public utilities commission and that, for the
purpose of storing, repairing, maintaining, and servicing such motor vehicles,
equips and operates one or more service departments within this state, may file
with the superintendent of the state highway patrol applications for permits
for such service departments as official inspection stations for its own motor
vehicles. Upon receiving an application for each such service department, and
after determining that it is properly equipped and has competent personnel to
perform the inspections referred to in this section, the superintendent shall
issue the necessary inspection stickers and permit to operate as an official
inspection station. Any such person who has had one or more service departments
so designated as official inspection stations may have motor vehicles that are
owned and operated by the person and that are not subject to regulation by the
public utilities commission, excepting private passenger cars owned by the
person or the person's employees, inspected at such service department; and any
motor vehicle bearing a valid certificate of inspection issued by such service
department shall be exempt from the tests provided in division (B) of this
section.

No permit for an official
inspection station shall be assigned or transferred or used at any location
other than therein designated, and every such permit shall be posted in a
conspicuous place at the location designated.

If a person, firm,
association, or corporation owns and operates fifteen or more motor vehicles in
the conduct of business and is subject to regulation by the public utilities
commission, that person, firm, association, or corporation is not eligible to
apply to the superintendent for permits to enable any of its service
departments to serve as official inspection stations for its own motor
vehicles.

(E)
When any
motor vehicle is found to be unsafe for operation, the inspecting officer may
order it removed from the highway and not operated, except for purposes of
removal and repair, until it has been repaired pursuant to a repair order as
provided in division (F) of this section.

(F)
When any motor vehicle is found to be defective or in violation of Chapter
4513. of the Revised Code, the inspecting officer may issue a repair order, in
such form and containing such information as the superintendent shall
prescribe, to the owner or operator of the motor vehicle. The owner or operator
shall thereupon obtain such repairs as are required and shall, as directed by
the inspecting officer, return the repair order together with proof of
compliance with its provisions. When any motor vehicle or operator subject to
rules of the public utilities commission fails the inspection, the inspecting
officer shall issue an appropriate order to obtain compliance with such
rules.

(G)
Sections
4513.01 to
4513.37 of the Revised Code, with
respect to equipment on vehicles, do not apply to implements of husbandry, road
machinery, road rollers, or agricultural tractors except as made applicable to
such articles of machinery.

(2)
"Multipurpose passenger vehicle" means a motor vehicle with motive power,
except a motorcycle, designed to carry ten persons or less, that is constructed
either on a truck chassis or with special features for occasional off-road
operation.

(3)
"Truck"
means every motor vehicle, except trailers and semitrailers, designed and used
to carry property and having a gross vehicle weight rating of ten thousand
pounds or less.

(4)
"Manufacturer" has the same meaning as in section
4501.01 of the Revised
Code.

(B)
The
director of public safety, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code,
shall adopt rules in conformance with standards of the vehicle equipment safety
commission, that shall govern the maximum bumper height or, in the absence of
bumpers and in cases where bumper heights have been lowered or modified, the
maximum height to the bottom of the frame rail, of any passenger car,
multipurpose passenger vehicle, or truck.

(C)
No
person shall operate upon a street or highway any passenger car, multipurpose
passenger vehicle, or truck registered in this state that does not conform to
the requirements of this section or to any applicable rule adopted pursuant to
this section.

(D)
No person
shall modify any motor vehicle registered in this state in such a manner as to
cause the vehicle body or chassis to come in contact with the ground, expose
the fuel tank to damage from collision, or cause the wheels to come in contact
with the body under normal operation, and no person shall disconnect any part
of the original suspension system of the vehicle to defeat the safe operation
of that system.

(E)
Nothing
contained in this section or in the rules adopted pursuant to this section
shall be construed to prohibit either of the following:

(1)
The
installation upon a passenger car, multipurpose passenger vehicle, or truck
registered in this state of heavy duty equipment, including shock absorbers and
overload springs;

(2)
The
operation on a street or highway of a passenger car, multipurpose passenger
vehicle, or truck registered in this state with normal wear to the suspension
system if the normal wear does not adversely affect the control of the
vehicle.

(F)
This section
and the rules adopted pursuant to it do not apply to any specially designed or
modified passenger car, multipurpose passenger vehicle, or truck when operated
off a street or highway in races and similar events.

(A)
As
part of the motor vehicle inspection conducted pursuant to section
4513.02 of the Revised Code, the
state highway patrol trooper shall request that the owner or operator of the
motor vehicle produce proof that the owner maintains or has maintained on the
owner's behalf, proof of financial responsibility as required by section
4509.101 of the Revised Code.

(B)
A state highway patrol trooper
shall indicate on every traffic ticket issued pursuant to a motor vehicle
inspection whether the person receiving the traffic ticket produced proof of
the maintenance of financial responsibility in response to the state highway
patrol trooper's request. The state highway patrol trooper shall inform every
person who receives a traffic ticket and who has failed to produce proof of the
maintenance of financial responsibility at the time of the motor vehicle
inspection that the person must submit proof to the traffic violations bureau
with any payment of a fine and costs for the ticketed violation or, if the
person is to appear in court for the violation, the person must submit proof to
the court.

(1)
If a person who has failed to produce
proof of the maintenance of financial responsibility appears in court for a
ticketed violation, the court may permit the defendant to present evidence of
proof of financial responsibility to the court at such time and in such manner
as the court determines to be necessary or appropriate. The clerk of courts
shall provide the registrar with the identity of any person who fails to submit
proof of the maintenance of financial responsibility pursuant to division (B)
of this section.

(2)
If a person
who has failed to present proof of the maintenance of financial responsibility
also fails to submit that proof to the traffic violations bureau, the traffic
violations bureau shall notify the registrar of the identity of that person.

(3)
Upon receiving notice from a
clerk of courts or a traffic violation bureau pursuant to division (C) of this
section, the registrar shall proceed against these persons under division (D)
of section
4509.101 of the Revised Code in
the same manner as the registrar proceeds against persons identified by the
clerk of courts under division (D)(4) of section
4509.101 of the Revised Code.

(D)
A state highway
patrol trooper may charge an owner or operator of a motor vehicle with a
violation of section
4510.16 of the Revised Code when
the operator fails to produce proof of the maintenance of financial
responsibility upon the state highway patrol trooper's request under division
(A) of this section, if a check of the owner or operator's driving record
indicates that the owner or operator, at the time of the motor vehicle
inspection, is required to file and maintain proof of financial responsibility
under section
4509.45 of the Revised Code for a
previous violation of Chapter 4509. of the Revised Code.

(A)
Every vehicle, other than a motorized bicycle, operated upon a street or
highway within this state shall display lighted lights and illuminating devices
as required by sections
4513.04 to
4513.37 of the Revised Code during
all of the following times:

(2)
At any other time when, due to insufficient natural light or unfavorable
atmospheric conditions, persons, vehicles, and substantial objects on the
highway are not discernible at a distance of one thousand feet ahead;

(3)
At any
time when the windshield wipers of the vehicle are in use because of
precipitation on the windshield.

Every motorized
bicycle shall display at such times lighted lights meeting the rules adopted by
the director of public safety under section
4511.521 of the Revised Code. No
motor vehicle, during such times any time specified in this section, shall be
operated upon a street or highway within this state using only parking lights
as illumination.

Whenever in such
sections a requirement is declared as to the distance from which certain lamps
and devices shall render objects visible, or within which such lamps or devices
shall be visible, such distance shall be measured upon a straight level
unlighted highway under normal atmospheric conditions unless a different
condition is expressly stated.

Whenever in such
sections a requirement is declared as to the mounted height of lights or
devices, it shall mean from the center of such light or device to the level
ground upon which the vehicle stands.

(B)
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no law enforcement
officer shall cause the operator of a vehicle being operated upon a street or
highway within this state to stop the vehicle solely because the officer
observes that a violation of division (A)(3) of this section has been or is
being committed or for the sole purpose of issuing a ticket, citation, or
summons for a violation of that division, or causing the arrest of or
commencing a prosecution of a person for a violation of that division.

(A)
Every
motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, and every trackless trolley shall be
equipped with at least two headlights with at least one near each side of the
front of the motor vehicle or trackless trolley.

Every motorcycle
shall be equipped with at least one and not more than two headlights.

(A)
Every motor vehicle, trackless trolley, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or
vehicle which is being drawn at the end of a train of vehicles shall be
equipped with at least one tail light mounted on the rear which, when lighted,
shall emit a red light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the
rear, provided that in the case of a train of vehicles only the tail light on
the rearmost vehicle need be visible from the distance specified.

Either a tail light
or a separate light shall be so constructed and placed as to illuminate with a
white light the rear registration plate, when such registration plate is
required, and render it legible from a distance of fifty feet to the rear. Any
tail light, together with any separate light for illuminating the rear
registration plate, shall be so wired as to be lighted whenever the headlights
or auxiliary driving lights are lighted, except where separate lighting systems
are provided for trailers for the purpose of illuminating such registration
plate.

(A)
Every new motor vehicle sold after September 6, 1941, and operated on a
highway, other than a commercial tractor, to which a trailer or semitrailer is
attached shall carry at the rear, either as a part of the tail lamps or
separately, two red reflectors meeting the requirements of this section, except
that vehicles of the type mentioned in section
4513.07 of the Revised Code shall
be equipped with reflectors as required by the regulations provided for in said
section.

Every such reflector
shall be of such size and characteristics and so maintained as to be visible at
night from all distances within three hundred feet to fifty feet from such
vehicle.

(A)
The director of public safety shall prescribe and promulgate regulations
relating to clearance lights, marker lights, reflectors, and stop lights on
buses, trackless trolleys, trucks, commercial tractors, trailers, semitrailers,
and pole trailers, when operated upon any highway, and such vehicles shall be
equipped as required by such regulations, and such equipment shall be lighted
at all times mentioned in section
4513.03 of the Revised Code,
except that clearance lights and side marker lights need not be lighted on any
such vehicle when it is operated within a municipal corporation where there is
sufficient light to reveal any person or substantial object on the highway at a
distance of five hundred feet.

Such equipment shall
be in addition to all other lights specifically required by sections
4513.03 to
4513.16 of the Revised Code.

Vehicles operated
under the jurisdiction of the public utilities commission are not subject to
this section.

(A)
Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, and pole trailer when operated upon
a highway shall be equipped with two or more stop lights, except that passenger
cars manufactured or assembled prior to January 1, 1967, motorcycles, and
motor-driven cycles shall be equipped with at least one stop light. Stop lights
shall be mounted on the rear of the vehicle, actuated upon application of the
service brake, and may be incorporated with other rear lights. Such stop lights
when actuated shall emit a red light visible from a distance of five hundred
feet to the rear, provided that in the case of a train of vehicles only the
stop lights on the rear-most vehicle need be visible from the distance
specified.

Such stop lights when
actuated shall give a steady warning light to the rear of a vehicle or train of
vehicles to indicate the intention of the operator to diminish the speed of or
stop a vehicle or train of vehicles.

When stop lights are
used as required by this section, they shall be constructed or installed so as
to provide adequate and reliable illumination and shall conform to the
appropriate rules and regulations established under section
4513.19 of the Revised Code.

Historical motor
vehicles as defined in section
4503.181 of the Revised Code, not
originally manufactured with stop lights, are not subject to this section.

Whenever motor and other vehicles are operated in combination
during the time that lights are required, any light, except tail lights, which
by reason of its location on a vehicle of the combination would be obscured by
another vehicle of the combination need not be lighted, but this section does
not affect the requirement that lighted clearance lights be displayed on the
front of the foremost vehicle required to have clearance lights or that all
lights required on the rear of the rearmost vehicle of any combination shall be
lighted.

(A)
Whenever the load upon any vehicle extends to the rear four feet or more beyond
the bed or body of such vehicle, there shall be displayed at the extreme rear
end of the load, at the times specified in section
4513.03 of the Revised Code, a red
light or lantern plainly visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet
to the sides and rear. The red light or lantern required by this section is in
addition to the red rear light required upon every vehicle. At any other time
there shall be displayed at the extreme rear end of such load a red flag or
cloth not less than sixteen inches square.

(A)
Except in case of an emergency, whenever
a vehicle is parked or stopped upon a roadway open to traffic or a shoulder
adjacent thereto, whether attended or unattended, during the times mentioned in
section 4513.03 of the Revised Code, such
vehicle shall be equipped with one or more lights which shall exhibit a white
or amber light on the roadway side visible from a distance of five hundred feet
to the front of such vehicle, and a red light visible from a distance of five
hundred feet to the rear. No lights need be displayed upon any such vehicle
when it is stopped or parked within a municipal corporation where there is
sufficient light to reveal any person or substantial object within a distance
of five hundred feet upon such highway. Any lighted headlights upon a parked
vehicle shall be depressed or dimmed.

(B)
Whoever violates this section shall be
punished as provided in section
4513.99 of the Revised Code.

(A)
All
vehicles other than bicycles, including animal-drawn vehicles and vehicles
referred to in division (G) of section
4513.02 of the Revised Code, not
specifically required to be equipped with lamps or other lighting devices by
sections 4513.03 to
4513.10 of the Revised Code,
shall, at the times specified in section
4513.03 of the Revised Code, be
equipped with at least one lamp displaying a white light visible from a
distance of not less than one thousand feet to the front of the vehicle, and
also shall be equipped with two lamps displaying red light visible from a
distance of not less than one thousand feet to the rear of the vehicle, or as
an alternative, one lamp displaying a red light visible from a distance of not
less than one thousand feet to the rear and two red reflectors visible from all
distances of six hundred feet to one hundred feet to the rear when illuminated
by the lawful lower beams of headlamps.

Lamps and reflectors
required or authorized by this section shall meet standards adopted by the
director of public safety.

(B)
All boat trailers, farm machinery, and other machinery, including all road
construction machinery, upon a street or highway, except when being used in
actual construction and maintenance work in an area guarded by a flagperson, or
where flares are used, or when operating or traveling within the limits of a
construction area designated by the director of transportation, a city
engineer, or the county engineer of the several counties, when such
construction area is marked in accordance with requirements of the director and
the manual of uniform traffic control devices, as set forth in section
4511.09 of the Revised Code, which
is designed for operation at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour or less
shall be operated at a speed not exceeding twenty-five miles per hour, and
shall display a triangular slow-moving vehicle emblem (SMV). The emblem shall
be mounted so as to be visible from a distance of not less than five hundred
feet to the rear. The director of public safety shall adopt standards and
specifications for the design and position of mounting the SMV emblem. The
standards and specifications for SMV emblems referred to in this section shall
correlate with and, so far as possible, conform with those approved by the
American society of agricultural engineers.

A unit of farm
machinery that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater
than twenty-five miles per hour may be operated on a street or highway at a
speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour provided it is operated in
accordance with this section.

As used in this
division, "machinery" does not include any vehicle designed to be drawn by an
animal.

(C)
The use
of the SMV emblem shall be restricted to animal-drawn vehicles, and to the
slow-moving vehicles specified in division (B) of this section operating or
traveling within the limits of the highway. Its use on slow-moving vehicles
being transported upon other types of vehicles or on any other type of vehicle
or stationary object on the highway is prohibited.

(1)
No person shall sell, lease, rent, or
operate any boat trailer, farm machinery, or other machinery defined as a
slow-moving vehicle in division (B) of this section, except those units
designed to be completely mounted on a primary power unit, which is
manufactured or assembled on or after April 1, 1966, unless the vehicle is
equipped with a slow-moving vehicle emblem mounting device as specified in
division (B) of this section.

(2)
No person shall sell, lease, rent, or operate on a street or highway any unit
of farm machinery that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed
greater than twenty-five miles per hour unless the unit displays a slow-moving
vehicle emblem as specified in division (B) of this section and a speed
identification symbol that meets the specifications contained in the American
society of agricultural engineers standard ANSI/ASAE S584 JAN2005, agricultural
equipment: speed identification symbol (SIS).

(E)
Any boat trailer, farm machinery, or other machinery defined as a slow-moving
vehicle in division (B) of this section, in addition to the use of the
slow-moving vehicle emblem, and any unit of farm machinery that is designed by
its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour,
in addition to the display of a speed identification symbol, may be equipped
with a red flashing light that shall be visible from a distance of not less
than one thousand feet to the rear at all times specified in section
4513.03 of the Revised Code. When
a double-faced light is used, it shall display amber light to the front and red
light to the rear.

In addition to the
lights described in this division, farm machinery and motor vehicles escorting
farm machinery may display a flashing, oscillating, or rotating amber light, as
permitted by section
4513.17 of the Revised Code, and
also may display simultaneously flashing turn signals or warning lights, as
permitted by that section.

(F)
Every animal-drawn vehicle upon a street or highway shall at all times be
equipped in one of the following ways:

(1)
With a slow-moving vehicle emblem complying with division (B) of this section;

(2)
With
alternate reflective material complying with rules adopted under this division;

(3)
With
both a slow-moving vehicle emblem and alternate reflective material as
specified in this division.

The director of
public safety, subject to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt rules
establishing standards and specifications for the position of mounting of the
alternate reflective material authorized by this division. The rules shall
permit, as a minimum, the alternate reflective material to be black, gray, or
silver in color. The alternate reflective material shall be mounted on the
animal-drawn vehicle so as to be visible, at all times specified in section
4513.03 of the Revised Code, from
a distance of not less than five hundred feet to the rear when illuminated by
the lawful lower beams of headlamps.

(G)
Every unit of farm machinery that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at
a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour shall display a slow-moving
vehicle emblem and a speed identification symbol that meets the specifications
contained in the American society of agricultural engineers standard ANSI/ASAE
S584 JAN2005, agricultural equipment: speed identification symbol (SIS) when
the unit is operated upon a street or highway, irrespective of the speed at
which the unit is operated on the street or highway. The speed identification
symbol shall indicate the maximum speed in miles per hour at which the unit of
farm machinery is designed by its manufacturer to operate. The display of the
speed identification symbol shall be in accordance with the standard prescribed
in this division.

If an agricultural
tractor that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than
twenty-five miles per hour is being operated on a street or highway at a speed
greater than twenty-five miles per hour and is towing, pulling, or otherwise
drawing a unit of farm machinery, the unit of farm machinery shall display a
slow-moving vehicle emblem and a speed identification symbol that is the same
as the speed identification symbol that is displayed on the agricultural
tractor.

(H)
When an
agricultural tractor that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed
greater than twenty-five miles per hour is being operated on a street or
highway at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour, the operator shall
possess some documentation published or provided by the manufacturer indicating
the maximum speed in miles per hour at which the manufacturer designed the
agricultural tractor to operate.

(J)
As used in this section, "boat trailer" means any vehicle designed and used
exclusively to transport a boat between a place of storage and a marina, or in
and around a marina, when drawn or towed on a street or highway for a distance
of no more than ten miles and at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour or less.

(1)
Every multi-wheel agricultural tractor
whose model year was 2001 or earlier, when being operated or traveling on a
street or highway at the times specified in section
4513.03 of the Revised Code, at a
minimum shall be equipped with and display reflectors and illuminated amber
lamps so that the extreme left and right projections of the tractor are
indicated by flashing lamps displaying amber light, visible to the front and
the rear, by amber reflectors, all visible to the front, and by red reflectors,
all visible to the rear.

(2)
The lamps displaying amber light need not flash simultaneously and need not
flash in conjunction with any directional signals of the tractor.

(3)
The lamps and reflectors required by division (A)(1) of this section and their
placement shall meet standards and specifications contained in rules adopted by
the director of public safety in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised
Code. The rules governing the amber lamps, amber reflectors, and red reflectors
and their placement shall correlate with and, as far as possible, conform with
paragraphs 4.1.4.1, 4.1.7.1, and 4.1.7.2 respectively of the American society
of agricultural engineers standard ANSI/ASAE S279.10 OCT98, lighting and
marking of agricultural equipment on highways.

(B)
Every unit of farm machinery whose model year was 2002 or later, when being
operated or traveling on a street or highway at the times specified in section
4513.03 of the Revised Code, shall
be equipped with and display markings and illuminated lamps that meet or exceed
the lighting, illumination, and marking standards and specifications that are
applicable to that type of farm machinery for the unit's model year specified
in the American society of agricultural engineers standard ANSI/ASAE S279.11
APR01, lighting and marking of agricultural equipment on highways, or any
subsequent revisions of that standard.

(C)
The lights and reflectors required by division (A) of this section are in
addition to the slow-moving vehicle emblem and lights required or permitted by
section 4513.11 or
4513.17 of the Revised Code to be
displayed on farm machinery being operated or traveling on a street or highway.

(D)
No
person shall operate any unit of farm machinery on a street or highway or cause
any unit of farm machinery to travel on a street or highway in violation of
division (A) or (B) of this section.

(A)
Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than one spotlight and every
lighted spotlight shall be so aimed and used upon approaching another vehicle
that no part of the high-intensity portion of the beam will be directed to the
left of the prolongation of the extreme left side of the vehicle, nor more than
one hundred feet ahead of the vehicle.

Any motor vehicle may
be equipped with not more than three auxiliary driving lights mounted on the
front of the vehicle. The director of public safety shall prescribe
specifications for auxiliary driving lights and regulations for their use, and
any such lights which do not conform to said specifications and regulations
shall not be used.

(A)
Any motor vehicle may be equipped with side cowl or fender lights which shall
emit a white or amber light without glare.

Any motor vehicle may
be equipped with lights on each side thereof which shall emit a white or amber
light without glare.

Any motor vehicle may
be equipped with back-up lights, either
separately or in combination with another light. No back-up lights shall be
continuously lighted when the motor vehicle is in forward motion.

(A)
At all times mentioned in section
4513.03 of the Revised Code at
least two lighted lights shall be displayed, one near each side of the front of
every motor vehicle and trackless trolley, except when such vehicle or
trackless trolley is parked subject to the regulations governing lights on
parked vehicles and trackless trolleys.

The director of
public safety shall prescribe and promulgate regulations relating to the design
and use of such lights and such regulations shall be in accordance with
currently recognized standards.

(A)
Whenever a motor vehicle is being operated on a roadway or shoulder adjacent
thereto during the times specified in section
4513.03 of the Revised Code, the
driver shall use a distribution of light, or composite beam, directed high
enough and of sufficient intensity to reveal persons, vehicles, and substantial
objects at a safe distance in advance of the vehicle, subject to the following
requirements;

(1)
Whenever
the driver of a vehicle approaches an oncoming vehicle, such driver shall use a
distribution of light, or composite beam, so aimed that the glaring rays are
not projected into the eyes of the oncoming driver.

(2)
Every new motor vehicle registered in this state, which has multiple-beam road
lighting equipment shall be equipped with a beam indicator, which shall be
lighted whenever the uppermost distribution of light from the headlights is in
use, and shall not otherwise be lighted. Said indicator shall be so designed
and located that, when lighted, it will be readily visible without glare to the
driver of the vehicle.

(A)
Any motor vehicle may be operated under the conditions specified in section
4513.03 of the Revised Code when
it is equipped with two lighted lights upon the front thereof capable of
revealing persons and substantial objects seventy-five feet ahead, in lieu of
lights required in section
4513.14 of the Revised Code,
provided that such vehicle shall not be operated at a speed in excess of twenty
miles per hour.

(A)
Whenever a motor vehicle equipped with headlights also is equipped with any
auxiliary lights or spotlight or any other light on the front thereof
projecting a beam of an intensity greater than three hundred candle power, not
more than a total of five of any such lights on the front of a vehicle shall be
lighted at any one time when the vehicle is upon a highway.

(B)
Any
lighted light or illuminating device upon a motor vehicle, other than
headlights, spotlights, signal lights, or auxiliary driving lights, that
projects a beam of light of an intensity greater than three hundred candle
power, shall be so directed that no part of the beam will strike the level of
the roadway on which the vehicle stands at a distance of more than seventy-five
feet from the vehicle.

(1)
Flashing lights are prohibited on motor vehicles, except as a means for
indicating a right or a left turn, or in the presence of a vehicular traffic
hazard requiring unusual care in approaching, or overtaking or passing. This
prohibition does not apply to emergency vehicles, road service vehicles
servicing or towing a disabled vehicle, rural mail delivery vehicles, vehicles as
provided in section 4513.182 of the Revised Code, highway maintenance vehicles, funeral hearses,
funeral escort vehicles, and similar equipment operated by the department or
local authorities, which shall be equipped with and display, when used on a
street or highway for the special purpose necessitating such lights, a
flashing, oscillating, or rotating amber light, but shall not display a
flashing, oscillating, or rotating light of any other color, nor to vehicles or
machinery permitted by section 4513.11 of the Revised Code to have a flashing
red light.

(2)
When used on
a street or highway, farm machinery and vehicles escorting farm machinery may
be equipped with and display a flashing, oscillating, or rotating amber light,
and the prohibition contained in division (C)(1) of this section does not apply
to such machinery or vehicles. Farm machinery also may display the lights
described in section 4513.11 of the Revised Code.

(D)
Except a person operating a public safety vehicle, as defined in division (E)
of section 4511.01 of the Revised Code, or a school bus, no person shall
operate, move, or park upon, or permit to stand within the right-of-way of any
public street or highway any vehicle or equipment that is equipped with and
displaying a flashing red or a flashing combination red and white light, or an
oscillating or rotating red light, or a combination red and white oscillating
or rotating light; and except a public law enforcement officer, or other person
sworn to enforce the criminal and traffic laws of the state, operating a public
safety vehicle when on duty, no person shall operate, move, or park upon, or
permit to stand within the right-of-way of any street or highway any vehicle or
equipment that is equipped with, or upon which is mounted, and displaying a
flashing blue or a flashing combination blue and white light, or an oscillating
or rotating blue light, or a combination blue and white oscillating or rotating
light.

(E)
This section
does not prohibit the use of warning lights required by law or the simultaneous
flashing of turn signals on disabled vehicles or on vehicles being operated in
unfavorable atmospheric conditions in order to enhance their visibility. This
section also does not prohibit the simultaneous flashing of turn signals or
warning lights either on farm machinery or vehicles escorting farm machinery,
when used on a street or highway.

(A)
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a motor vehicle operated by a
coroner, deputy coroner, or coroner's investigator may be equipped with a
flashing, oscillating, or rotating red or blue light and a siren, whistle, or
bell capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance
of not less than five hundred feet. Such a vehicle may display the flashing,
oscillating, or rotating red or blue light and may give the audible signal of
the siren, exhaust whistle, or bell only when responding to a fatality or a
fatal motor vehicle accident on a street or highway and only at those locations
where the stoppage of traffic impedes the ability of the coroner, deputy
coroner, or coroner's investigator to arrive at the site of the fatality.

This section does not
relieve a coroner, deputy coroner, or coroner's investigator operating a motor
vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons
and property upon the highway.

(A)
The
director of transportation shall adopt standards and specifications applicable
to headlights, clearance lights, identification, and other lights, on snow
removal equipment when operated on the highways, and on vehicles operating
under special permits pursuant to section
4513.34 of the Revised Code, in
lieu of the lights otherwise required on motor vehicles. Such standards and
specifications may permit the use of flashing colored lights, other than
blue or red in color, for purposes of identification on snow removal
equipment, and oversize vehicles when in service upon the highways. The
standards and specifications for lights referred to in this section shall
correlate with and, so far as possible, conform with those approved by the
American association of state highway officials.

It is unlawful to
operate snow removal equipment on a highway unless the lights thereon comply
with and are lighted when and as required by the standards and specifications
adopted as provided in this section.

The director of public safety subject to the provisions of
sections 119.01 to
119.13 of the Revised Code shall
adopt standards and specifications applicable to rural mail delivery vehicles,
state highway survey vehicles, and funeral escort vehicles. Such standards and
specifications shall permit rural mail delivery vehicles, state highway survey
vehicles, and funeral escort vehicles the use of flashing lights.

(A)
No person shall
operate any motor vehicle owned, leased, or hired by a nursery school,
kindergarten, or day-care center, while transporting preschool children to or
from such an institution unless the motor vehicle is equipped with and
displaying two amber flashing lights mounted on a bar attached to the top of
the vehicle, and a sign bearing the designation "caution--children," which
shall be attached to the bar carrying the amber flashing lights in such a
manner as to be legible to persons both in front of and behind the vehicle. The
lights and sign shall meet standards and specifications adopted by the director
of public safety. The director, subject to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code,
shall adopt standards and specifications for the lights and sign, which shall
include, but are not limited to, requirements for the color and size of
lettering to be used on the sign, the type of material to be used for the sign,
and the method of mounting the lights and sign so that they can be removed from
a motor vehicle being used for purposes other than those specified in this
section.

(B)
No person shall
operate a motor vehicle displaying the lights and sign required by this section
for any purpose other than the transportation of preschool children as provided
in this section.

(C)
Whoever
violates this section shall be punished as provided in section
4513.99 of the Revised Code.

(A)
No
person shall use any lights mentioned in sections 4513.03 to 4513.18 of the
Revised Code upon any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer unless said lights
are equipped, mounted, and adjusted as to focus and aim in accordance with
regulations which are prescribed by the director of public safety.

(B)
The headlights on any motor vehicle shall comply with
the headlamp color requirements contained in federal motor vehicle safety
standard number 108, 49 C.F.R. 571.108. No person shall operate a motor vehicle
in violation of this division.

(A)
The following requirements govern as to
brake equipment on vehicles:

(1)
Every
trackless trolley and motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, when operated
upon a highway shall be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement
of and to stop and hold such trackless trolley or motor vehicle, including two
separate means of applying the brakes, each of which means shall be effective
to apply the brakes to at least two wheels. If these two separate means of
applying the brakes are connected in any way, then on such trackless trolleys
or motor vehicles manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1942, they shall
be so constructed that failure of any one part of the operating mechanism shall
not leave the trackless trolley or motor vehicle without brakes on at least two
wheels.

(2)
Every motorcycle, when
operated upon a highway shall be equipped with at least one adequate brake,
which may be operated by hand or by foot.

(3)
Every motorized bicycle shall be equipped
with brakes meeting the rules adopted by the director of public safety under
section 4511.521 of the Revised Code.

(4)
When operated upon the
highways of this state, the following vehicles shall be equipped with brakes
adequate to control the movement of and to stop and to hold the vehicle,
designed to be applied by the driver of the towing motor vehicle from its cab,
and also designed and connected so that, in case of a breakaway of the towed
vehicle, the brakes shall be automatically applied:

(a)
Except as otherwise provided in this
section, every trailer or semitrailer, except a pole trailer, with an empty
weight of two thousand pounds or more, manufactured or assembled on or after
January 1, 1942;

(b)
Every
manufactured home or travel trailer with an empty weight of two thousand pounds
or more, manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 2001.

(5)
Every watercraft trailer with
a gross weight or manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of three thousand
pounds or more that is manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 2008,
shall have separate brakes equipped with hydraulic surge or electrically
operated brakes on two wheels.

(6)
In any combination of motor-drawn trailers or semitrailers equipped with
brakes, means shall be provided for applying the rearmost brakes in approximate
synchronism with the brakes on the towing vehicle, and developing the required
braking effort on the rearmost wheels at the fastest rate; or means shall be
provided for applying braking effort first on the rearmost brakes; or both of
the above means, capable of being used alternatively, may be employed.

(7)
Every vehicle and combination
of vehicles, except motorcycles and motorized bicycles, and except trailers and
semitrailers of a gross weight of less than two thousand pounds, and pole
trailers, shall be equipped with parking brakes adequate to hold the vehicle on
any grade on which it is operated, under all conditions of loading, on a
surface free from snow, ice, or loose material. The parking brakes shall be
capable of being applied in conformance with the foregoing requirements by the
driver's muscular effort or by spring action or by equivalent means. Their
operation may be assisted by the service brakes or other source of power
provided that failure of the service brake actuation system or other power
assisting mechanism will not prevent the parking brakes from being applied in
conformance with the foregoing requirements. The parking brakes shall be so
designed that when once applied they shall remain applied with the required
effectiveness despite exhaustion of any source of energy or leakage of any
kind.

(8)
The same brake drums,
brake shoes and lining assemblies, brake shoe anchors, and mechanical brake
shoe actuation mechanism normally associated with the wheel brake assemblies
may be used for both the service brakes and the parking brakes. If the means of
applying the parking brakes and the service brakes are connected in any way,
they shall be so constructed that failure of any one part shall not leave the
vehicle without operative brakes.

(9)
Every trackless trolley, motor vehicle,
or combination of motor-drawn vehicles shall be capable at all times and under
all conditions of loading of being stopped on a dry, smooth, level road free
from loose material, upon application of the service or foot brake, within the
following specified distances, or shall be capable of being decelerated at a
sustained rate corresponding to these distances:

(a)
Trackless trolleys, vehicles, or
combinations of vehicles having brakes on all wheels shall come to a stop in
thirty feet or less from a speed of twenty miles per hour.

(b)
Vehicles or combinations of vehicles not
having brakes on all wheels shall come to a stop in forty feet or less from a
speed of twenty miles per hour.

(10)
All brakes shall be maintained in good
working order and shall be so adjusted as to operate as equally as practicable
with respect to the wheels on opposite sides of the trackless trolley or
vehicle.

(B)
Whoever
violates this section shall be punished as provided in section
4513.99 of the Revised Code.

(A)
No
hydraulic brake fluid for use in motor vehicles shall be sold in this state if
the brake fluid is below the minimum standard of specifications for heavy duty
type brake fluid established by the society of automotive engineers and the
standard of specifications established by
49 C.F.R.
571.116 , as amended.

(B)
All manufacturers, packers, or
distributors of brake fluid selling such fluid in this state shall state on the
containers that the brake fluid therein meets or exceeds the applicable minimum
SAE standard of specifications and the standard of specifications established
in 49 C.F.R.
571.116 , as amended.

(C)
Whoever violates this section shall be
punished as provided in section
4513.99 of the Revised Code.

(A)
No brake
lining, brake lining material, or brake lining assemblies for use as repair and
replacement parts in motor vehicles shall be sold in this state if these items
do not meet or exceed the minimum standard of specifications established by the
society of automotive engineers and the standard of specifications established
in 49 C.F.R.
571.105 , as amended, and
49 C.F.R.
571.135 , as amended.

(B)
All manufacturers or distributors of
brake lining, brake lining material, or brake lining assemblies selling these
items for use as repair and replacement parts in motor vehicles shall state
that the items meet or exceed the applicable minimum standard of
specifications.

(C)
Whoever
violates this section shall be punished as provided in section
4513.99 of the Revised Code.

(D)
As used in this section,
"minimum standard of specifications" means a minimum standard for brake system
or brake component performance that meets the need for motor vehicle safety and
complies with the applicable SAE standards and recommended practices, and the
federal motor vehicle safety standards that cover the same aspect of
performance for any brake lining, brake lining material, or brake lining
assemblies.

(A)
Every motor vehicle or trackless trolley when operated upon a highway shall be
equipped with a horn which is in good working order and capable of emitting
sound audible, under normal conditions, from a distance of not less than two
hundred feet.

No motor vehicle or
trackless trolley shall be equipped with, nor shall any person use upon a
vehicle, any siren, whistle, or bell. Any vehicle may be equipped with a theft
alarm signal device which shall be so arranged that it cannot be used as an
ordinary warning signal. Every emergency vehicle shall be equipped with a
siren, whistle, or bell, capable of emitting sound audible under normal
conditions from a distance of not less than five hundred feet and of a type
approved by the director of public safety. Such equipment shall not be used
except when such vehicle is operated in response to an emergency call or is in
the immediate pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law, in which
case the driver of the emergency vehicle shall sound such equipment when it is
necessary to warn pedestrians and other drivers of the approach thereof.

(A)
Every
motor vehicle and motorcycle with an internal combustion engine shall at all
times be equipped with a muffler which is in good working order and in constant
operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise, and no person shall use a
muffler cutout, by-pass, or similar device upon a motor vehicle on a highway.
Every motorcycle muffler shall be equipped with baffle plates.

No person shall own,
operate, or have in the person's possession any motor vehicle or motorcycle
equipped with a device for producing excessive smoke or gas, or so equipped as
to permit oil or any other chemical to flow into or upon the exhaust pipe or
muffler of such vehicle, or equipped in any other way to produce or emit smoke
or dangerous or annoying gases from any portion of such vehicle, other than the
ordinary gases emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine under
normal operation.

(A)
The board of
county commissioners of any county, and the board of township trustees of any
township subject to section
505.17 of the Revised Code, may
regulate passenger car and motorcycle noise on streets and highways under their
jurisdiction. Such regulations shall include maximum permissible noise limits
measured in decibels, subject to the requirements of this section.

(B)
Regulations establishing maximum
permissible noise limits measured in decibels shall prohibit the operation,
within the speed limits specified herein, of a passenger car or motorcycle of a
type subject to registration at any time or under any condition of load,
acceleration, or deceleration in such manner as to exceed the following maximum
noise limits, based on a distance of not less than fifty feet from the center
of the line of travel:

(a)
When operated at a speed of
thirty-five miles per hour or less, a maximum noise limit of eighty-two
decibels;

(b)
When operated at a
speed of more than thirty-five miles per hour, a maximum noise limit of
eighty-six decibels.

(C)
Maximum noise limits established pursuant
to division (B) of this section shall be measured on the "A" scale of a
standard sound level meter meeting the applicable requirements for a type 2
sound level meter as defined in American national standards institute standard
S1.4 - 1983, or the most recent revision thereof. Measurement practices shall
be in substantial conformity with standards and recommended practice
established by the society of automotive engineers, including SAE standard J
986 A NOV81, SAE standard J 366 MAR85, SAE standard J 331 A, and such other
standards and practices as may be approved by the federal government.

(D)
No regulation enacted under
division (B) of this section shall be effective until signs giving notice of
the regulation are posted upon or at the entrance to the highway or part
thereof affected, as may be most appropriate.

(E)
A board of county commissioners of any
county may regulate noise from passenger cars, motorcycles, or other devices
using internal combustion engines in the unincorporated area of the county, and
a board of township trustees may regulate such noise in the unincorporated area
of the township, in any of the following ways:

(1)
By prohibiting operating or causing to be
operated any motor vehicle, agricultural tractor, motorcycle, all-purpose
vehicle, or snowmobile not equipped with a factory-installed muffler or
equivalent muffler in good working order and in constant operation;

(2)
By prohibiting the removing or rendering
inoperative, or causing to be removed or rendered inoperative, other than for
purposes of maintenance, repair, or replacement, of any muffler;

(3)
By prohibiting the discharge into the
open air of exhaust of any stationary or portable internal combustion engine
except through a factory-installed muffler or equivalent muffler in good
working order and in constant operation;

(4)
By prohibiting racing the motor of any
vehicle described in division (E)(1) of this section in such a manner that the
exhaust system emits a loud, cracking, or chattering noise unusual to its
normal operation.

(F)
Whoever violates any maximum noise limit established as provided in division
(B) of this section or any of the prohibitions authorized in division (E) of
this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. Fines collected under this
section by the county shall be paid into the county general fund, and such
fines collected by the township shall be paid into the township general fund.

No regulation adopted under this section shall apply to
commercial racetrack operations.

(A)
Every motor vehicle, motorcycle, and trackless trolley shall be equipped with a
mirror so located as to reflect to the operator a view of the highway to the
rear of such vehicle, motorcycle, or trackless trolley. Operators of vehicles,
motorcycles, streetcars, and trackless trolleys shall have a clear and
unobstructed view to the front and to both sides of their vehicles,
motorcycles, streetcars, or trackless trolleys and shall have a clear view to
the rear of their vehicles, motorcycles, streetcars, or trackless trolleys by
mirror.

(1)
No person shall drive any motor
vehicle, other than a bus, with any sign, poster, or other nontransparent
material upon the front windshield, sidewings, side, or rear windows of such
vehicle other than a certificate or other paper required to be displayed by
law, except that there may be in the lower left-hand or right-hand corner of
the windshield a sign, poster, or decal not to exceed four inches in height by
six inches in width. No sign, poster, or decal shall be displayed in the front
windshield in such a manner as to conceal the vehicle identification number for
the motor vehicle when, in accordance with federal law, that number is located
inside the vehicle passenger compartment and so placed as to be readable
through the vehicle glazing without moving any part of the vehicle.

(2)
Division
(B)(1) of this section does not apply to a person who is driving a passenger
car with an electronic device, including an antenna, electronic tolling or
other transponder, camera, directional navigation device, or other similar
electronic device located in the front windshield if the device meets both of
the following:

(a)
It does not
restrict the vehicle operator's sight lines to the road and highway signs and
signals.

(3)
Division
(B)(1) of this section does not apply to a person who is driving a commercial
car with an electronic device, including an antenna, electronic tolling or
other transponder, camera, directional navigation device, or other similar
electronic device located in the front windshield if the device meets both of
the following:

(a)
It does not
restrict the vehicle operator's sight lines to the road and highway signs and
signals.

(b)
It is
mounted not more than six inches below the upper edge of the windshield and is
outside the area swept by the vehicle's windshield wipers.

(C)
The
windshield on every motor vehicle, streetcar, and trackless trolley shall be
equipped with a device for cleaning rain, snow, or other moisture from the
windshield. The device shall be maintained in good working order and so
constructed as to be controlled or operated by the operator of the vehicle,
streetcar, or trackless trolley.

(A)
The
director of public safety, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code,
shall adopt rules governing the use of tinted glass, and the use of
transparent, nontransparent, translucent, and reflectorized materials in or on
motor vehicle windshields, side windows, sidewings, and rear windows that
prevent a person of normal vision looking into the motor vehicle from seeing or
identifying persons or objects inside the motor vehicle.

(B)
The
rules adopted under this section may provide for persons who meet either of the
following qualifications:

(1)
On November
11, 1994, or the effective date of any rule adopted under this section, own a
motor vehicle that does not conform to the requirements of this section or of
any rule adopted under this section;

(2)
Establish residency in this state and are required to register a motor vehicle
that does not conform to the requirements of this section or of any rule
adopted under this section.

(C)
No
person shall operate, on any highway or other public or private property open
to the public for vehicular travel or parking, lease, or rent any motor vehicle
that is registered in this state unless the motor vehicle conforms to the
requirements of this section and of any applicable rule adopted under this
section.

(D)
No person
shall install in or on any motor vehicle, any glass or other material that
fails to conform to the requirements of this section or of any rule adopted
under this section.

(1)
No used motor vehicle dealer or new
motor vehicle dealer, as defined in section
4517.01 of the Revised Code, shall
sell any motor vehicle that fails to conform to the requirements of this
section or of any rule adopted under this section.

(2)
No
manufacturer, remanufacturer, or distributor, as defined in section
4517.01 of the Revised Code, shall
provide to a motor vehicle dealer licensed under Chapter 4517. of the Revised
Code or to any other person, a motor vehicle that fails to conform to the
requirements of this section or of any rule adopted under this
section.

(F)
No
reflectorized materials shall be permitted upon or in any front windshield,
side windows, sidewings, or rear window.

(G)
This section does not apply to the manufacturer's tinting or glazing of motor
vehicle windows or windshields that is otherwise in compliance with or
permitted by federal motor vehicle safety standard number two hundred
five.

(H)
With regard
to any side window behind a driver's seat or any rear window other than any
window on an emergency door, this section does not apply to any school bus used
to transport a child with disabilities pursuant to Chapter 3323. of the Revised
Code, whom it is impossible or impractical to transport by regular school bus
in the course of regular route transportation provided by a school district. As
used in this division, "child with disabilities" has the same meaning as in
section 3323.01 of the Revised
Code.

(I)
This section
does not apply to any school bus that is to be sold and operated outside this
state.

(1)
This section
and the rules adopted under it do not apply to a motor vehicle used by a law
enforcement agency under either of the following circumstances:

(a)
The vehicle
does not have distinctive markings of a law enforcement vehicle but is operated
by or on behalf of the law enforcement agency in an authorized investigation or
other activity requiring that the presence and identity of the vehicle
occupants be undisclosed.

(b)
The vehicle
primarily is used by the law enforcement canine unit for transporting a police
dog.

(2)
As used in
this division, "law enforcement agency" means a police department, the office
of a sheriff, the state highway patrol, a county prosecuting attorney, or a
federal, state, or local governmental body that enforces criminal laws and that
has employees who have a statutory power of arrest.

(a)
Whoever
violates division (D) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth
degree, except that an organization may not be convicted unless the act of
installation was authorized by the board of directors, trustees, partners, or
by a high managerial officer acting on behalf of the organization, and
installation was performed by an employee of the organization acting within the
scope of the person's employment.

(b)
In addition
to any other penalty imposed under this section, whoever violates division (D)
of this section is liable in a civil action to the owner of a motor vehicle on
which was installed the nonconforming glass or material for any damages
incurred by that person as a result of the installation of the nonconforming
glass or material, costs of maintaining the civil action, and attorney
fees.

(c)
In addition
to any other penalty imposed under this section, if the offender previously has
been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of division (D) of this
section and the offender is a motor vehicle repair operator registered under
Chapter 4775. of the Revised Code or a motor vehicle dealer licensed under
Chapter 4517. of the Revised Code, whoever violates division (D) of this
section is subject to a registration or license suspension, as applicable, for
a period of not more than one hundred eighty days.

(1)
Every county
court judge, mayor of a mayor's court, and clerk of a court of record shall
keep a full record of every case in which a person is charged with any
violation of this section. If a person is convicted of or forfeits bail in
relation to a violation of division (D) of this section, the county court
judge, mayor of a mayor's court, or clerk, within ten days after the conviction
or bail forfeiture, shall prepare and immediately forward to the motor vehicle
repair board and the motor vehicle dealers board, an abstract, certified by the
preparer to be true and correct, of the court record covering the case in which
the person was convicted or forfeited bail.

(2)
The motor
vehicle repair board and the motor vehicle dealers board each shall keep and
maintain all abstracts received under this section. Within ten days after
receipt of an abstract, each board, respectively, shall determine whether the
person named in the abstract is registered or licensed with the board and, if
the person is so registered or licensed, shall proceed in accordance with
section 4775.09 or
4517.33 of the Revised Code, as
applicable, and determine whether the person's registration or license is to be
suspended for a period of not more than one hundred eighty
days.

(A)
Notwithstanding section
4513.24 and division (F) of
section 4513.241 of the Revised Code or
any rule adopted thereunder, a decal, whether reflectorized or not, may be
displayed upon any side window or sidewing of a motor vehicle if all of the
following are met:

(1)
The
decal is necessary for public or private security arrangements to which the
motor vehicle periodically is subjected;

(2)
The decal is no larger than is necessary to accomplish the security
arrangements;

(3)
The
decal does not obscure the vision of the motor vehicle operator or prevent a
person looking into the motor vehicle from seeing or identifying persons or
objects inside the motor vehicle.

(A)
Every solid tire, as defined in section
4501.01 of the Revised Code, on a
vehicle shall have rubber or other resilient material on its entire traction
surface at least one inch thick above the edge of the flange of the entire
periphery.

(B)
Whoever violates
this section shall be punished as provided in section
4513.99 of the Revised Code.

(A)
No person shall sell any new motor
vehicle nor shall any new motor vehicle be registered, and no person shall
operate any motor vehicle, which is registered in this state and which has been
manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 1936, unless the motor vehicle
is equipped with safety glass wherever glass is used in the windshields, doors,
partitions, rear windows, and windows on each side immediately adjacent to the
rear window.

"Safety glass" means any product composed of glass so
manufactured, fabricated, or treated as substantially to prevent shattering and
flying of the glass when it is struck or broken, or such other or similar
product as may be approved by the registrar of motor vehicles.

Glass other than safety glass shall not be offered for sale, or
sold for use in, or installed in any door, window, partition, or windshield
that is required by this section to be equipped with safety glass.

(B)
Whoever violates this section
shall be punished as provided in section
4513.99 of the Revised Code.

(1)
No person shall operate any motor vehicle
manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 1954, unless the vehicle is
equipped with electrical or mechanical directional signals.

(2)
No person shall operate any motorcycle or
motor-driven cycle manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 1968,
unless the vehicle is equipped with electrical or mechanical directional
signals.

(B)
"Directional signals" means an electrical or mechanical signal device capable
of clearly indicating an intention to turn either to the right or to the left
and which shall be visible from both the front and rear.

(C)
All mechanical signal devices shall be
self-illuminating devices when in use at the times mentioned in section
4513.03 of the Revised Code.

(A)
As used in this section and in section
4513.263 of the Revised Code, the
component parts of a "seat safety belt" include a belt, anchor attachment
assembly, and a buckle or closing device.

(B)
No person shall sell, lease, rent, or
operate any passenger car, as defined in division (E) of section
4501.01 of the Revised Code, that
is registered or to be registered in this state and that is manufactured or
assembled on or after January 1, 1962, unless the passenger car is equipped
with sufficient anchorage units at the attachment points for attaching at least
two sets of seat safety belts to its front seat. Such anchorage units at the
attachment points shall be of such construction, design, and strength to
support a loop load pull of not less than four thousand pounds for each belt.

(C)
No person shall sell, lease,
or rent any passenger car, as defined in division (E) of section
4501.01 of the Revised Code, that
is registered or to be registered in this state and that is manufactured or
assembled on or after January 1, 1966, unless the passenger car has installed
in its front seat at least two seat safety belt assemblies.

(D)
After January 1, 1966, neither any seat
safety belt for use in a motor vehicle nor any component part of any such seat
safety belt shall be sold in this state unless the seat safety belt or the
component part satisfies the minimum standard of specifications established by
the society of automotive engineers for automotive seat belts and unless the
seat safety belt or component part is labeled so as to indicate that it meets
those minimum standard specifications.

(E)
Each sale, lease, or rental in violation
of this section constitutes a separate offense.

(A)
As used in this section and in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code:

(1)
"Automobile" means any commercial tractor, passenger car, commercial car, or
truck that is required to be factory-equipped with an occupant restraining
device for the operator or any passenger by regulations adopted by the United
States secretary of transportation pursuant to the "National Traffic and Motor
Vehicle Safety Act of 1966," 80 Stat. 719, 15 U.S.C.A. 1392.

(2)
"Occupant restraining device" means a seat safety belt, shoulder belt, harness,
or other safety device for restraining a person who is an operator of or
passenger in an automobile and that satisfies the minimum federal vehicle
safety standards established by the United States department of
transportation.

(3)
"Passenger" means any person in an automobile, other than its operator, who is
occupying a seating position for which an occupant restraining device is
provided.

(4)
"Commercial tractor," "passenger car," and "commercial car" have the same
meanings as in section 4501.01 of the Revised Code.

(5)
"Vehicle" and "motor vehicle," as used in the definitions of the terms set
forth in division (A)(4) of this section, have the same meanings as in section
4511.01 of the Revised Code.

(6)
"Tort action" means a civil action for damages for injury, death, or loss to
person or property. "Tort action" includes a product liability claim, as
defined in section 2307.71 of the Revised Code, and an asbestos claim, as
defined in section 2307.91 of the Revised Code, but does not include a civil
action for damages for breach of contract or another agreement between
persons.

(1)
Operate an
automobile on any street or highway unless that person is wearing all of the
available elements of a properly adjusted occupant restraining device, or
operate a school bus that has an occupant restraining device installed for use
in its operator's seat unless that person is wearing all of the available
elements of the device, as properly adjusted;

(2)
Operate an automobile on any street or highway unless each passenger in the
automobile who is subject to the requirement set forth in division (B)(3) of
this section is wearing all of the available elements of a properly adjusted
occupant restraining device;

(3)
Occupy, as a passenger, a seating position on the front seat of an automobile
being operated on any street or highway unless that person is wearing all of
the available elements of a properly adjusted occupant restraining
device;

(4)
Operate a
taxicab on any street or highway unless all factory-equipped occupant
restraining devices in the taxicab are maintained in usable form.

(C)
Division
(B)(3) of this section does not apply to a person who is required by section
4511.81 of the Revised Code to be secured in a child restraint device or
booster seat. Division (B)(1) of this section does not apply to a person who is
an employee of the United States postal service or of a newspaper home delivery
service, during any period in which the person is engaged in the operation of
an automobile to deliver mail or newspapers to addressees. Divisions (B)(1) and
(3) of this section do not apply to a person who has an affidavit signed by a
physician licensed to practice in this state under Chapter 4731. of the Revised
Code or a chiropractor licensed to practice in this state under Chapter 4734.
of the Revised Code that states that the person has a physical impairment that
makes use of an occupant restraining device impossible or
impractical.

(D)
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no law enforcement
officer shall cause an operator of an automobile being operated on any street
or highway to stop the automobile for the sole purpose of determining whether a
violation of division (B) of this section has been or is being committed or for
the sole purpose of issuing a ticket, citation, or summons for a violation of
that nature or causing the arrest of or commencing a prosecution of a person
for a violation of that nature, and no law enforcement officer shall view the
interior or visually inspect any automobile being operated on any street or
highway for the sole purpose of determining whether a violation of that nature
has been or is being committed.

(E)
All fines collected for violations of division (B) of this section, or for
violations of any ordinance or resolution of a political subdivision that is
substantively comparable to that division, shall be forwarded to the treasurer
of state for deposit into the state treasury to the credit of the trauma and
emergency medical services fund, which is hereby created. In addition, sixty
cents of each fee collected under sections 4501.34, 4503.26, 4505.14, 4506.08,
4509.05, and 4519.63 of the Revised Code as specified in those sections, plus
the portion of the driver's license reinstatement fee described in division
(F)(2)(g) of section 4511.191 of the Revised Code, plus all fees collected
under section 4765.11 of the Revised Code, plus all fines imposed under section
4765.55 of the Revised Code, plus the fees and other
moneys specified in section 4766.05 of the Revised Code, and plus five
per cent of fines and moneys arising from bail forfeitures as directed by
section 5503.04 of the Revised Code, also shall be deposited into the trauma
and emergency medical services fund. All money deposited into the trauma and
emergency medical services fund shall be used by the department of public
safety for the administration and operation of the division of emergency
medical services and the state board of emergency medical, fire, and transportation services, and by the state
board of emergency medical, fire, and
transportation services to make grants, in accordance with section
4765.07 of the Revised Code and rules the board adopts under section 4765.11 of
the Revised Code. The director of budget and management may transfer excess
money from the trauma and emergency medical services fund to the state highway
safety fund if the director of public safety determines that the amount of
money in the trauma and emergency medical services fund exceeds the amount
required to cover such costs incurred by the emergency medical services agency
and the grants made by the state board of emergency medical, fire, and transportation services and requests the
director of budget and management to make the transfer.

(1)
Subject to division (F)(2) of this section, the failure of a person to wear all
of the available elements of a properly adjusted occupant restraining device in
violation of division (B)(1) or (3) of this section or the failure of a person
to ensure that each minor who is a passenger of an automobile being operated by
that person is wearing all of the available elements of a properly adjusted
occupant restraining device in violation of division (B)(2) of this section
shall not be considered or used by the trier of fact in a tort action as
evidence of negligence or contributory negligence. But, the trier of fact may
determine based on evidence admitted consistent with the Ohio Rules of Evidence
that the failure contributed to the harm alleged in the tort action and may
diminish a recovery of compensatory damages that represents noneconomic loss,
as defined in section 2307.011 of the Revised Code, in a tort action that could
have been recovered but for the plaintiff's failure to wear all of the
available elements of a properly adjusted occupant restraining device. Evidence
of that failure shall not be used as a basis for a criminal prosecution of the
person other than a prosecution for a violation of this section; and shall not
be admissible as evidence in a criminal action involving the person other than
a prosecution for a violation of this section.

(2)
If, at the time of an accident involving a passenger car equipped with occupant
restraining devices, any occupant of the passenger car who sustained injury or
death was not wearing an available occupant restraining device, was not wearing
all of the available elements of such a device, or was not wearing such a
device as properly adjusted, then, consistent with the Rules of Evidence, the
fact that the occupant was not wearing the available occupant restraining
device, was not wearing all of the available elements of such a device, or was
not wearing such a device as properly adjusted is admissible in evidence in
relation to any claim for relief in a tort action to the extent that the claim
for relief satisfies all of the following:

(b)
The defendant in question is the manufacturer, designer, distributor, or seller
of the passenger car.

(c)
The claim for relief against the defendant in question is that the injury or
death sustained by the occupant was enhanced or aggravated by some design
defect in the passenger car or that the passenger car was not
crashworthy.

(3)
Except as
otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates division (B)(4) of this
section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If the offender previously has been
convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of division (B)(4) of this
section, whoever violates division (B)(4) of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor of the third degree.

(A)
No
person shall operate any motor truck, trackless trolley, bus, or commercial
tractor upon any highway outside the corporate limits of municipalities at any
time from sunset to sunrise unless there is carried in such vehicle and
trackless trolley, except as provided in division (B) of this section, the
following equipment which shall be of the types approved by the director of
transportation:

(1)
At least three flares or
three red reflectors or three red electric lanterns, each of which is capable
of being seen and distinguished at a distance of five hundred feet under normal
atmospheric conditions at night time;

(3)
At least two red cloth flags, not less
than twelve inches square, with standards to support them;

(4)
The type of red reflectors shall comply
with such standards and specifications in effect on September 16, 1963 or later
established by the interstate commerce commission and must be certified as
meeting such standards by underwriter's laboratories.

(B)
No person shall operate at the time and
under the conditions stated in this section any motor vehicle used in
transporting flammable liquids in bulk, or in transporting compressed flammable
gases, unless there is carried in such vehicle three red electric lanterns or
three red reflectors meeting the requirements stated in division (A) of this
section. There shall not be carried in any such vehicle any flare, fusee, or
signal produced by a flame.

(C)
This section does not apply to any person who operates any motor vehicle in a
work area designated by protection equipment devices that are displayed and
used in accordance with the manual adopted by the department of transportation
under section
4511.09 of the Revised Code.

(D)
Whoever violates this section
shall be punished as provided in section
4513.99 of the Revised Code.

(A)
Whenever any motor truck, trackless trolley, bus, commercial tractor, trailer,
semi-trailer, or pole trailer is disabled upon the traveled portion of any
highway or the shoulder thereof outside of any municipality, or upon any
freeway, expressway, thruway and connecting, entering or exiting ramps within a
municipality, at any time when lighted lamps are required on vehicles and
trackless trolleys, the operator of such vehicle or trackless trolley shall
display the following warning devices upon the highway during the time the
vehicle or trackless trolley is so disabled on the highway except as provided
in division (B) of this section:

(1)
A lighted fusee shall be immediately placed on the roadway at the traffic side
of such vehicle or trackless trolley, unless red electric lanterns or red
reflectors are displayed.

(2)
Within the burning period of the fusee and as promptly as possible, three
lighted flares or pot torches, or three red reflectors or three red electric
lanterns shall be placed on the roadway as follows:

(a)
One at a distance of forty paces or approximately one hundred feet in advance
of the vehicle;

(b)
One at a
distance of forty paces or approximately one hundred feet to the rear of the
vehicle or trackless trolley except as provided in this section, each in the
center of the lane of traffic occupied by the disabled vehicle or trackless
trolley;

(B)
Whenever
any vehicle used in transporting flammable liquids in bulk, or in transporting
compressed flammable gases, is disabled upon a highway at any time or place
mentioned in division (A) of this section, the driver of such vehicle shall
display upon the roadway the following warning devices:

(1)
One red electric lantern or one red reflector shall be immediately placed on
the roadway at the traffic side of the vehicle;

(2)
Two other red electric lanterns or two other red reflectors shall be placed to
the front and rear of the vehicle in the same manner prescribed for flares in
division (A) of this section.

(C)
When a vehicle of a type specified in division (B) of this section is disabled,
the use of flares, fusees, or any signal produced by flame as warning signals
is prohibited.

(D)
Whenever
any vehicle or trackless trolley of a type referred to in this section is
disabled upon the traveled portion of a highway or the shoulder thereof,
outside of any municipality, or upon any freeway, expressway, thruway and
connecting, entering or exiting ramps within a municipality, at any time when
the display of fusees, flares, red reflectors, or electric lanterns is not
required, the operator of such vehicle or trackless trolley shall display two
red flags upon the roadway in the lane of traffic occupied by the disabled
vehicle or trackless trolley, one at a distance of forty paces or approximately
one hundred feet in advance of the vehicle or trackless trolley, and one at a
distance of forty paces or approximately one hundred feet to the rear of the
vehicle or trackless trolley, except as provided in this section.

(E)
The flares, fusees, lanterns, red reflectors, and flags to be displayed as
required in this section shall conform with the requirements of section
4513.27 of the Revised Code
applicable thereto.

(F)
In the event the vehicle or trackless trolley is disabled near a curve, crest
of a hill, or other obstruction of view, the flare, flag, reflector, or lantern
in that direction shall be placed as to afford ample warning to other users of
the highway, but in no case shall it be placed less than forty paces or
approximately one hundred feet nor more than one hundred twenty paces or
approximately three hundred feet from the disabled vehicle or trackless
trolley.

(G)
This
section does not apply to the operator of any vehicle in a work area designated
by protection equipment devices that are displayed and used in accordance with
the manual adopted by the department of transportation under section
4511.09 of the Revised Code.

(A)
Any person operating any vehicle
transporting explosives upon a highway shall at all times comply with the
following requirements:

(1)
Said vehicle
shall be marked or placarded on each side and on the rear with the word
"explosives" in letters not less than eight inches high, or there shall be
displayed on the rear of such vehicle a red flag not less than twenty-four
inches square marked with the word "danger" in white letters six inches high,
or shall be marked or placarded in accordance with section 177.823 of the
United States department of transportation regulations.

(2)
Said vehicle shall be equipped with not
less than two fire extinguishers, filled and ready for immediate use, and
placed at convenient points on such vehicle.

(3)
The director of transportation may
promulgate such regulations governing the transportation of explosives and
other dangerous articles by vehicles upon the highway as are reasonably
necessary to enforce sections
4513.01 to
4513.37 of the Revised Code.

(B)
Whoever violates
this section shall be punished as provided in section
4513.99 of the Revised Code.

(A)
No
vehicle shall be driven or moved on any highway unless the vehicle is so
constructed, loaded, or covered as to prevent any of its load from dropping,
sifting, leaking, or otherwise escaping therefrom, except that sand or other
substance may be dropped for the purpose of securing traction, or water or
other substance may be sprinkled on a roadway in cleaning or maintaining the
roadway.

(B)
Except for a farm
vehicle used to transport agricultural produce or agricultural production
materials or a rubbish vehicle in the process of acquiring its load, no vehicle
loaded with garbage, swill, cans, bottles, waste paper, ashes, refuse, trash,
rubbish, waste, wire, paper, cartons, boxes, glass, solid waste, or any other
material of an unsanitary nature that is susceptible to blowing or bouncing
from a moving vehicle shall be driven or moved on any highway unless the load
is covered with a sufficient cover to prevent the load or any part of the load
from spilling onto the highway.

(C)
Whoever violates this section shall be
punished as provided in section
4513.99 of the Revised Code.

(A)
When one vehicle is towing another
vehicle, the drawbar or other connection shall be of sufficient strength to
pull all the weight towed thereby, and the drawbar or other connection shall
not exceed fifteen feet from one vehicle to the other, except the connection
between any two vehicles transporting poles, pipe, machinery, or other objects
of structural nature which cannot readily be dismembered.

When one vehicle is towing another and the connection consists
only of a chain, rope, or cable, there shall be displayed upon such connection
a white flag or cloth not less than twelve inches square.

In addition to such drawbar or other connection, each trailer
and each semitrailer which is not connected to a commercial tractor by means of
a fifth wheel shall be coupled with stay chains or cables to the vehicle by
which it is being drawn. The chains or cables shall be of sufficient size and
strength to prevent the towed vehicle's parting from the drawing vehicle in
case the drawbar or other connection should break or become disengaged. In case
of a loaded pole trailer, the connecting pole to the drawing vehicle shall be
coupled to the drawing vehicle with stay chains or cables of sufficient size
and strength to prevent the towed vehicle's parting from the drawing vehicle.

Every trailer or semitrailer, except pole and cable trailers
and pole and cable dollies operated by a public utility as defined in section
5727.01 of the Revised Code, shall
be equipped with a coupling device, which shall be so designed and constructed
that the trailer will follow substantially in the path of the vehicle drawing
it, without whipping or swerving from side to side. Vehicles used to transport
agricultural produce or agricultural production materials between a local place
of storage and supply and the farm, when drawn or towed on a street or highway
at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour or less, and vehicles designed and
used exclusively to transport a boat between a place of storage and a marina,
or in and around a marina, when drawn or towed on a street or highway for a
distance of no more than ten miles and at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour
or less, shall have a drawbar or other connection, including the hitch mounted
on the towing vehicle, which shall be of sufficient strength to pull all the
weight towed thereby. Only one such vehicle used to transport agricultural
produce or agricultural production materials as provided in this section may be
towed or drawn at one time, except as follows:

(1)
An agricultural tractor may tow or draw
more than one such vehicle;

(2)
A
pickup truck or straight truck designed by the manufacturer to carry a load of
not less than one-half ton and not more than two tons may tow or draw not more
than two such vehicles that are being used to transport agricultural produce
from the farm to a local place of storage. No vehicle being so towed by such a
pickup truck or straight truck shall be considered to be a motor vehicle.

(B)
Whoever violates
this section shall be punished as provided in section
4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Any police officer having reason to believe that the weight of
a vehicle and its load is unlawful may require the driver of said vehicle to
stop and submit to a weighing of it by means of a compact, self-contained,
portable, sealed scale specially adapted to determine the wheel loads of
vehicles on highways; a sealed scale permanently installed in a fixed location,
having a load-receiving element specially adapted to determining the wheel
loads of highway vehicles; a sealed scale, permanently installed in a fixed
location, having a load-receiving element specially adapted to determining the
combined load of all wheels on a single axle or on successive axles of a
highway vehicle, or a sealed scale adapted to weighing highway vehicles, loaded
or unloaded. The driver of such vehicle shall, if necessary, be directed to
proceed to the nearest available of such sealed scales to accomplish the
weighing, provided such scales are within three miles of the point where such
vehicle is stopped. Any vehicle stopped in accordance with this section may be
held by the police officer for a reasonable time only to accomplish the
weighing as prescribed by this section. All scales used in determining the
lawful weight of a vehicle and its load shall be annually compared by a
municipal, county, or state sealer with the state standards or standards
approved by the state and such scales shall not be sealed if they do not
conform to the state standards or standards approved by the state.

At each end of a permanently installed scale, there shall be a
straight approach in the same plane as the platform, of sufficient length and
width to insure the level positioning of vehicles during weight determinations.

During determination of weight by compact, self-contained,
portable, sealed scales, specially adapted to determining the wheel loads of
vehicles on highways, they shall always be used on terrain of sufficient length
and width to accommodate the entire vehicle being weighed. Such terrain shall
be level, or if not level, it shall be of such elevation that the difference in
elevation between the wheels on any one axle does not exceed two inches and the
difference in elevation between axles being weighed does not exceed one-fourth
inch per foot of the distance between said axles.

In all determination of all weights, except gross weight, by
compact, self-contained, portable sealed scales, specially adapted to
determining the wheel loads of vehicles on highways, all successive axles,
twelve feet or less apart, shall be weighed simultaneously by placing one such
scale under the outside wheel of each such axle. In determinations of gross
weight by the use of compact, self-contained, portable sealed scales, specially
adapted to determining the wheel loads of vehicles on highways, all axles shall
be weighed simultaneously by placing one such scale under the outside wheel of
each axle.

Whenever such officer upon weighing a vehicle and load
determines that the weight is unlawful, he may require the driver to stop the
vehicle in a suitable place and remain standing until such portion of the load
is removed as is necessary to reduce the weight of such vehicle to the limit
permitted under sections
5577.01 to
5577.14 of the Revised Code.

Whenever local authorities determine upon the basis of an
engineering and traffic investigation that the weight limits permitted under
sections 5577.01 to
5577.14 of the Revised Code, or
the weight limits permitted when compact, self-contained, portable, sealed
scales, specially adapted to determining the wheel loads of vehicles on
highways, are used on any part of a state route under their jurisdiction is
greater than is reasonable under the conditions found to exist at such
location, the local authorities may, by resolution, request the director of
transportation to determine and declare reasonable weight limits. Upon receipt
of such request the director may determine and declare reasonable weight limits
at such location, and if the director alters the weight limits set by sections
5577.01 to
5577.14 and this section of the
Revised Code, then such altered weight limits shall become effective only when
appropriate signs giving notice thereof are erected at such location by local
authorities.

The director may withdraw his approval of any altered weight
limit whenever, in his opinion, any altered weight limit becomes unreasonable,
and upon such withdrawal the altered weight limit shall become ineffective, and
the signs relating thereto shall be immediately removed by local authorities.
Alteration of weight limits on state routes by local authorities is not
effective until alteration has been approved by the director.

This section does not derogate or limit the power and authority
conferred upon the director or boards of county commissioners by section
5577.07 of the Revised Code.

(1)
The director of transportation with respect to all highways that are a part of
the state highway system and local authorities with respect to highways under
their jurisdiction, upon application in writing, shall issue a special regional
heavy hauling permit authorizing the applicant to operate or move a vehicle or
combination of vehicles as follows:

(a)
At a size or weight of vehicle or load exceeding the maximum specified in
sections 5577.01 to 5577.09 of the Revised Code, or otherwise not in conformity
with sections 4513.01 to 4513.37 of the Revised Code;

(b)
Upon any highway under the jurisdiction of the authority granting the permit
except those highways with a condition insufficient to bear the weight of the
vehicle or combination of vehicles as stated in the application;

(c)
For regional trips at distances of one hundred fifty miles or less from a
facility stated on the application as the applicant's point of origin.

Issuance of a special
regional heavy hauling permit is subject to the payment of a fee established by
the director or local authority in accordance with this section.

(2)
In
circumstances where a person is not eligible to receive a permit under division
(A)(1) of this section, the director of transportation with respect to all
highways that are a part of the state highway system and local authorities with
respect to highways under their jurisdiction, upon application in writing and
for good cause shown, may issue a special permit in writing authorizing the
applicant to operate or move a vehicle or combination of vehicles of a size or
weight of vehicle or load exceeding the maximum specified in sections 5577.01
to 5577.09 of the Revised Code, or otherwise not in conformity with sections
4513.01 to 4513.37 of the Revised Code, upon any highway under the jurisdiction
of the authority granting the permit.

(3)
For purposes of this section, the director may designate certain state highways
or portions of state highways as special economic development highways. If an
application submitted to the director under this section involves travel of a
nonconforming vehicle or combination of vehicles upon a special economic
development highway, the director, in determining whether good cause has been
shown that issuance of a permit is justified, shall consider the effect the
travel of the vehicle or combination of vehicles will have on the economic
development in the area in which the designated highway or portion of highway
is located.

(B)
Notwithstanding sections 715.22 and 723.01 of the Revised Code, the holder of a
permit issued by the director under this section may move the vehicle or
combination of vehicles described in the permit on any highway that is a part
of the state highway system when the movement is partly within and partly
without the corporate limits of a municipal corporation. No local authority
shall require any other permit or license or charge any license fee or other
charge against the holder of a permit for the movement of a vehicle or
combination of vehicles on any highway that is a part of the state highway
system. The director shall not require the holder of a permit issued by a local
authority to obtain a special permit for the movement of vehicles or
combination of vehicles on highways within the jurisdiction of the local
authority. Permits may be issued for any period of time not to exceed one year,
as the director in the director's discretion or a local authority in its
discretion determines advisable, or for the duration of any public construction
project.

(1)
The application for a permit issued under this section shall be in the form
that the director or local authority prescribes. The director or local
authority may prescribe a permit fee to be imposed and collected when any
permit described in this section is issued. The permit fee may be in an amount
sufficient to reimburse the director or local authority for the administrative
costs incurred in issuing the permit, and also to cover the cost of the normal
and expected damage caused to the roadway or a street or highway structure as
the result of the operation of the nonconforming vehicle or combination of
vehicles. The director, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code,
shall establish a schedule of fees for permits issued by the director under
this section; however, the fee to operate a triple trailer unit, at locations
authorized under federal law, shall be one hundred dollars.

(2)
For the purposes of this section and of rules adopted by the director under
this section, milk transported in bulk by vehicle is deemed a nondivisible
load.

(3)
For purposes of this section and of rules adopted by
the director under this section, three or fewer aluminum coils, transported by
a vehicle, are deemed a nondivisible load. The director shall adopt rules
establishing requirements for an aluminum coil permit that are substantially
similar to the requirements for a steel coil permit under Chapter 5501:2-1 of
the Administrative Code.

(D)
The director or a local authority shall issue a special regional heavy hauling
permit under division (A)(1) of this section upon application and payment of
the applicable fee. However, the director or local authority may issue or
withhold a special permit specified in division (A)(2) of this section. If a
permit is to be issued, the director or local authority may limit or prescribe
conditions of operation for the vehicle and may require the posting of a bond
or other security conditioned upon the sufficiency of the permit fee to
compensate for damage caused to the roadway or a street or highway structure.
In addition, a local authority, as a condition of issuance of an overweight
permit, may require the applicant to develop and enter into a mutual agreement
with the local authority to compensate for or to repair excess damage caused to
the roadway by travel under the permit.

For a permit that will
allow travel of a nonconforming vehicle or combination of vehicles on a special
economic development highway, the director, as a condition of issuance, may
require the applicant to agree to make periodic payments to the department to
compensate for damage caused to the roadway by travel under the permit.

(E)
Every
permit issued under this section shall be carried in the vehicle or combination
of vehicles to which it refers and shall be open to inspection by any police
officer or authorized agent of any authority granting the permit. No person
shall violate any of the terms of a permit.

(F)
The director may debar an applicant from applying for a permit under this
section upon a finding based on a reasonable belief that the applicant has done
any of the following:

(1)
Abused
the process by repeatedly submitting false information or false travel plans or
by using another company or individual's name, insurance, or escrow account
without proper authorization;

(2)
Failed to comply with or substantially perform under a previously issued permit
according to its terms, conditions, and specifications within specified time
limits;

(3)
Failed to
cooperate in the application process for the permit or in any other procedures
that are related to the issuance of the permit by refusing to provide
information or documents required in a permit or by failing to respond to and
correct matters related to the permit;

(4)
Accumulated repeated justified complaints regarding performance under a permit
that was previously issued to the applicant or previously failed to obtain a
permit when such a permit was required;

(5)
Attempted to influence a public employee to breach ethical conduct
standards;

(6)
Been
convicted of a criminal offense related to the application for, or performance
under, a permit, including, but not limited to, bribery, falsification, fraud
or destruction of records, receiving stolen property, and any other offense
that directly reflects on the applicant's integrity or commercial driver's
license;

(7)
Accumulated repeated convictions under a state or federal safety law governing
commercial motor vehicles or a rule or regulation adopted under such a
law;

(8)
Accumulated repeated convictions under a law, rule, or regulation governing the
movement of traffic over the public streets and highways;

(9)
Failed to pay any fees associated with any permitted operation or
move;

(10)
Deliberately or willfully submitted false or misleading information in
connection with the application for, or performance under, a permit issued
under this section.

If the applicant is a
partnership, association, or corporation, the director also may debar from
consideration for permits any partner of the partnership, or the officers,
directors, or employees of the association or corporation being
debarred.

The director may adopt
rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code governing the
debarment of an applicant.

(G)
When the director reasonably believes that grounds for debarment exist, the
director shall send the person that is subject to debarment a notice of the
proposed debarment. A notice of proposed debarment shall indicate the grounds
for the debarment of the person and the procedure for requesting a hearing. The
notice and hearing shall be in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised
Code. If the person does not respond with a request for a hearing in the manner
specified in that chapter, the director shall issue the debarment decision
without a hearing and shall notify the person of the decision by certified
mail, return receipt requested. The debarment period may be of any length
determined by the director, and the director may modify or rescind the
debarment at any time. During the period of debarment, the director shall not
issue, or consider issuing, a permit under this section to any partnership,
association, or corporation that is affiliated with a debarred person. After
the debarment period expires, the person, and any partnership, association, or
corporation affiliated with the person, may reapply for a permit.

(1)
No person shall violate the terms of a permit issued under this section that
relate to gross load limits.

(2)
No person shall violate the terms of a permit issued under this section that
relate to axle load by more than two thousand pounds per axle or group of
axles.

(3)
No person
shall violate the terms of a permit issued under this section that relate to an
approved route except upon order of a law enforcement officer
or authorized agent of the issuing
authority.

(I)
Whoever violates division (H) of this section shall be punished as provided in
section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

(J)
A permit issued by the department of transportation or a local authority under
this section for the operation of a vehicle or combination of vehicles is valid
for the purposes of the vehicle operation in accordance with the conditions and
limitations specified on the permit. Such a permit is voidable by law
enforcement only for operation of a vehicle or combination of vehicles in
violation of the weight, dimension, or route provisions of the permit. However,
a permit is not voidable for operation in violation of a route provision of a
permit if the operation is upon the order of a law enforcement
officer.

(A)
All fines collected under sections
4511.01 to
4511.78 ,
4511.99 , and
4513.01 to
4513.37 of the Revised Code shall
be paid into the county treasury and, with the exception of that portion
distributed under section
307.515 of the Revised Code, shall
be placed to the credit of the fund for the maintenance and repair of the
highways within that county, except that:

(1)
All fines for violations of division (B) of section
4513.263 shall be delivered to the
treasurer of state as provided in division (E) of section
4513.263 of the Revised Code.

(2)
All fines collected from, or
moneys arising from bonds forfeited by, persons apprehended or arrested by
state highway patrolmen shall be distributed as provided in section
5503.04 of the Revised Code.

(a)
Subject to division (E) of section
4513.263 of the Revised Code and
except as otherwise provided in division (A)(3)(b) of this section, one-half of
all fines collected from, and one-half of all moneys arising from bonds
forfeited by, persons apprehended or arrested by a township constable or other
township police officer shall be paid to the township treasury to be placed to
the credit of the general fund.

(b)
All fines collected from, and all moneys
arising from bonds forfeited by, persons apprehended or arrested by a township
constable or other township police officer pursuant to division (B)(2) of
section 4513.39 of the Revised Code for a
violation of section
4511.21 of the Revised Code or any
other law, ordinance, or regulation pertaining to speed that occurred on a
highway included as part of the interstate system, as defined in section
5516.01 of the Revised Code, shall
be paid into the county treasury and be credited as provided in the first
paragraph of this section.

(B)
Notwithstanding any other provision of
this section or of any other section of the Revised Code:

(1)
All fines collected from, and all moneys
arising from bonds forfeited by, persons arrested under division (E)(1) or (2)
of section
2935.03 of the Revised Code are
deemed to be collected, and to arise, from arrests made within the jurisdiction
in which the arresting officer is appointed, elected, or employed, for
violations of one of the sections or chapters of the Revised Code listed in
division (E)(1) of that section and shall be distributed accordingly.

(2)
All fines collected from, and
all moneys arising from bonds forfeited by, persons arrested under division
(E)(3) of section
2935.03 of the Revised Code are
deemed to be collected, and to arise, from arrests made within the jurisdiction
in which the arresting officer is appointed, elected, or employed, for
violations of municipal ordinances that are substantially equivalent to one of
the sections or one of the provisions of one of the chapters of the Revised
Code listed in division (E)(1) of that section and for violations of one of the
sections or one of the provisions of one of the chapters of the Revised Code
listed in division (E)(1) of that section, and shall be distributed
accordingly.

(A)
No person shall
resist, hinder, obstruct, or abuse any sheriff, constable, or other official
while that official is attempting to arrest offenders under any provision of
sections 4511.01 to
4511.78 ,
4511.99 , and
4513.01 to
4513.37 of the Revised Code. No
person shall interfere with any person charged under any provision of any of
those sections with the enforcement of the law relative to public highways.

(A)
No person shall
knowingly present, display, or orally communicate a false name, social security
number, or date of birth to a law enforcement officer who is in the process of
issuing to the person a traffic ticket or complaint.

(B)
Whoever violates this section is guilty
of a misdemeanor of the first degree.

Every county court judge,
mayor, and clerk of a court of record shall keep a full record of every case in
which a person is charged with any violation of sections
4511.01 to
4511.78 , section
4511.99 , and sections
4513.01 to 4513.37 of the Revised
Code, or of any other law or ordinance regulating the operation of vehicles,
streetcars, and trackless trolleys on highways.

Within
seven
days after the conviction or forfeiture of bail of a person upon a charge of
violating any of such sections or other law or ordinance regulating the
operation of vehicles, streetcars, and trackless trolleys on highways, said
judge, mayor, or clerk shall prepare and immediately forward to the department
of public safety an abstract of the court record covering the case in which
said person was convicted or forfeited bail, which abstract must be
certified by the person required to prepare the same to be true and
correct.

The abstract
shall be made upon a form approved and furnished by the department and shall
include the name and address of the party charged, the number of
the
party's driver's or commercial driver's license, the registration number
of the vehicle involved, the nature of the offense, the date of hearing, the
plea, the judgment, or whether bail forfeited, and the amount of the fine or
forfeiture.

Every court of record
shall also forward a like report to the department upon the conviction of any
person of manslaughter or other felony in the commission of which a vehicle was
used.

The failure, refusal, or
neglect of such officer to comply with this section constitutes misconduct in
office and is ground for removal therefrom.

The department shall keep
all abstracts received under this section at its main office.

No person shall be prohibited from owning or operating a
licensed collector's vehicle or historical motor vehicle that is equipped with
a feature of design, type of material, or article of equipment that was not in
violation of any motor vehicle equipment law of this state or of its political
subdivisions in effect during the calendar year the vehicle was manufactured,
and no licensed collector's vehicle or historical motor vehicle shall be
prohibited from displaying or using any such feature of design, type of
material, or article of equipment.

No person shall be prohibited from owning or operating a
licensed collector's vehicle or historical motor vehicle for failing to comply
with an equipment provision contained in Chapter 4513. of the Revised Code or
in any state rule that was enacted or adopted in a year subsequent to that in
which the vehicle was manufactured, and no licensed collector's vehicle or
historical motor vehicle shall be required to comply with an equipment
provision enacted into Chapter 4513. of the Revised Code or adopted by state
rule subsequent to the calendar year in which it was manufactured. No political
subdivision shall require an owner of a licensed collector's vehicle or
historical motor vehicle to comply with equipment provisions contained in laws
or rules that were enacted or adopted subsequent to the calendar year in which
the vehicle was manufactured, and no political subdivision shall prohibit the
operation of a licensed collector's vehicle or historical motor vehicle for
failure to comply with any such equipment laws or rules.

(B)
A member
of the police force of a township police district created under section
505.48 of
the Revised Code or of a joint police district created under section
505.482 of the Revised Code,
and a township constable appointed pursuant to section
509.01 of the Revised Code, who has
received a certificate from the Ohio peace officer training commission under
section 109.75 of the Revised Code, shall
exercise the power to make arrests for violations of those sections listed in
division (A) of this section, other than sections
4513.33 and
4513.34 of the Revised Code, as
follows:

(1)
If the
population of the township that created the township or
joint police district served by the member's police force or the township
that is served by the township constable is fifty thousand or less, the member
or constable shall exercise that power on those portions of all state highways,
except those highways included as part of the interstate system, as defined in
section 5516.01 of the Revised Code, that
are located within the township or joint police
district, in the case of a member of a township or
joint police district police force, or within the unincorporated
territory of the township, in the case of a township constable;

(2)
If the population of the township that created the township
or joint police district served by the member's
police force or the township that is served by the township constable is
greater than fifty thousand, the member or constable shall exercise that power
on those portions of all state highways and highways included as part of the
interstate highway system, as defined in section
5516.01 of the Revised Code, that
are located within the township or joint police
district, in the case of a member of a township or
joint police district police force, or within the unincorporated
territory of the township, in the case of a township constable.

When a safety device has been installed in the traveled portion
of a street at a railroad grade crossing for the protection of the traveling
public, the municipal corporation shall place a warning sign not less than two
hundred feet from the crossing. The driver of any vehicle shall place his
vehicle under control at the location of said warning signs so as to be able to
bring said vehicle to a complete stop at said safety device. Colliding with
such safety device at the crossing is prima-facie evidence that the driver is a
reckless driver.

(A)
No owner of a
licensed collector's vehicle, a historical motor vehicle, or a collector's
vehicle that is an agricultural tractor or traction engine shall be required to
comply with an emission, noise control, or fuel usage provision contained in a
law or rule of this state or its political subdivisions that was enacted or
adopted subsequent to the calendar year in which the vehicle was manufactured.

(B)
No person shall be prohibited
from operating a licensed collector's vehicle, a historical motor vehicle, or a
collector's vehicle that is an agricultural tractor or traction engine for
failing to comply with an emission, noise control, or fuel usage law or rule of
this state or its political subdivisions that was enacted or adopted subsequent
to the calendar year in which his vehicle was manufactured.

(C)
Except as provided in section
4505.061 of the Revised Code, no
person shall be required to submit his collector's vehicle to a physical
inspection prior to or in connection with an issuance of title to, or the sale
or transfer of ownership of such vehicle, except that a police officer may
inspect it to determine ownership.

In accordance with section
1.51 of the
Revised Code, this section shall, without exception, prevail over any special
or local provision of the Revised Code that requires owners or operators of
collector's vehicles to comply with standards of emission, noise, fuel usage,
or physical condition in connection with an issuance of title to, or the sale
or transfer of ownership of such vehicle or part thereof.

(2)
"Bus"
does not include a church bus as defined in section
4503.07 of the Revised Code or a
school bus unless the church bus or school bus is used in the transportation of
passengers by a motor
carrier .

(A)
Except as provided in division (B) of
this section, on and after July 1, 2001, no person shall operate a bus, nor
shall any person being the owner of a bus or having supervisory responsibility
for a bus permit the operation of any bus, unless the bus displays a valid,
current safety inspection decal issued by the state highway patrol under
section 4513.52 of the Revised Code.

(B)
For the purpose of complying
with the requirements of this section and section
4513.52 of the Revised Code, the
owner or other operator of a bus may drive the bus directly to an inspection
site conducted by the state highway patrol and directly back to the person's
place of business without a valid registration and without displaying a safety
inspection decal, provided that no passengers may occupy the bus during such
operation.

(C)
The registrar of
motor vehicles shall not accept an application for registration of a bus unless
the bus owner presents a valid safety inspection report for the applicable
registration year.

(D)
Whoever
violates division (A) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first
degree.

(A)
The
department of public safety, with the advice of the public utilities
commission, shall adopt and enforce rules relating to the inspection of buses
to determine whether a bus is safe and lawful, including whether its equipment
is in proper adjustment or repair.

(B)
The rules shall determine the safety
features, items of equipment, and other safety-related conditions subject to
inspection. The rules may authorize the state highway patrol to operate safety
inspection sites, or to enter in or upon the property of any bus operator to
conduct the safety inspections, or both. The rules also shall establish a fee,
not to exceed two hundred dollars, for each bus inspected.

(C)
The state highway patrol shall conduct
the bus safety inspections at least on an annual basis. An inspection conducted
under this section is valid for twelve months unless, prior to that time, the
bus fails a subsequent inspection or ownership of the bus is transferred.

(D)
The state highway patrol shall
collect a fee for each bus inspected.

(E)
Upon determining that a bus is in safe
operating condition, that its equipment is in proper adjustment and repair, and
that it is otherwise lawful, the inspecting officer shall do both of the
following:

(1)
Affix an official safety
inspection decal to the outside surface of each side of the bus;

(2)
Issue the owner or operator of the bus a
safety inspection report, to be presented to the registrar or a deputy
registrar upon application for registration of the bus.

(A)
The superintendent of the state highway patrol, with approval of the director
of public safety, may appoint and maintain necessary staff to carry out the
inspection of buses.

(B)
The
superintendent of the state highway patrol shall adopt a distinctive annual
safety inspection decal bearing the date of inspection. The state highway
patrol may remove any decal from a bus that fails any inspection.

(C)
Bus
inspection fees collected by the state highway patrol
under section 4513.52 of the Revised Code shall
be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the state highway safety fund created in section 4501.06 of the Revised
Code.

(1)
The sheriff of a county or chief of
police of a municipal corporation, township, or township
or joint police district, within the sheriff's or
chief's respective territorial jurisdiction, upon complaint of any person
adversely affected, may order into storage any motor vehicle, other than an
abandoned junk motor vehicle as defined in section
4513.63 of the Revised Code, that
has been left on private residential or private agricultural property for at
least four hours without the permission of the person having the right to the
possession of the property. The sheriff or chief of police, upon complaint of
the owner of a repair garage or place of storage, may order into storage any
motor vehicle, other than an abandoned junk motor vehicle, that has been left
at the garage or place of storage for a longer period than that agreed upon.
The place of storage shall be designated by the sheriff or chief of police.
When ordering a motor vehicle into storage pursuant to this division, a sheriff
or chief of police, whenever possible, shall arrange for the removal of the
motor vehicle by a private tow truck operator or towing company. Subject to
division (C) of this section, the owner of a motor vehicle that has been
removed pursuant to this division may recover the vehicle only in accordance
with division (E) of this section.

(2)
Divisions (A)(1) to (3) of this section do not apply to any private residential
or private agricultural property that is established as a private tow-away zone
in accordance with division (B) of this section.

(3)
As used in divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section, "private residential
property" means private property on which is located one or more structures
that are used as a home, residence, or sleeping place by one or more persons,
if no more than three separate households are maintained in the structure or
structures. "Private residential property" does not include any private
property on which is located one or more structures that are used as a home,
residence, or sleeping place by two or more persons, if more than three
separate households are maintained in the structure or structures.

(1)
The owner of private property may
establish a private tow-away zone only if all of the following conditions are
satisfied:

(a)
The
owner posts on the owner's property a sign, that is at least eighteen inches by
twenty-four inches in size, that is visible from all entrances to the property,
and that contains at least all of the following information:

(i)
A notice that the property is a private tow-away zone and that vehicles not
authorized to park on the property will be towed away;

(ii)
The
telephone number of the person from whom a towed-away vehicle can be recovered,
and the address of the place to which the vehicle will be taken and the place
from which it may be recovered;

(iii)
A
statement that the vehicle may be recovered at any time during the day or night
upon the submission of proof of ownership and the payment of a towing charge,
in an amount not to exceed ninety dollars, and a storage charge, in an amount
not to exceed twelve dollars per twenty-four-hour period; except that the
charge for towing shall not exceed one hundred fifty dollars, and the storage
charge shall not exceed twenty dollars per twenty-four-hour period, if the
vehicle has a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating in excess of ten
thousand pounds and is a truck, bus, or a combination of a commercial tractor
and trailer or semitrailer.

(b)
The place to which the towed vehicle is taken and from which it may be
recovered is conveniently located, is well lighted, and is on or within a
reasonable distance of a regularly scheduled route of one or more modes of
public transportation, if any public transportation is available in the
municipal corporation or township in which the private tow-away zone is
located.

(2)
If a vehicle is parked on private property that is established as a private
tow-away zone in accordance with division (B)(1) of this section, without the
consent of the owner of the property or in violation of any posted parking
condition or regulation, the owner or the owner's agent may remove, or cause
the removal of, the vehicle, the owner and the operator of the vehicle shall be
deemed to have consented to the removal and storage of the vehicle and to the
payment of the towing and storage charges specified in division (B)(1)(a)(iii)
of this section, and the owner, subject to division (C) of this section, may
recover a vehicle that has been so removed only in accordance with division (E)
of this section.

(3)
If a
municipal corporation requires tow trucks and tow truck operators to be
licensed, no owner of private property located within the municipal corporation
shall remove, or shall cause the removal and storage of, any vehicle pursuant
to division (B)(2) of this section by an unlicensed tow truck or unlicensed tow
truck operator.

(4)
Divisions (B)(1) to (3) of this section do not affect or limit the operation of
division (A) of this section or sections
4513.61 to
4513.65 of the Revised Code as
they relate to property other than private property that is established as a
private tow-away zone under division (B)(1) of this section.

(C)
If the
owner or operator of a motor vehicle that has been ordered into storage
pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section or of a vehicle that is being
removed under authority of division (B)(2) of this section arrives after the
motor vehicle or vehicle has been prepared for removal, but prior to its actual
removal from the property, the owner or operator shall be given the opportunity
to pay a fee of not more than one-half of the charge for the removal of motor
vehicles under division (A)(1) of this section or of vehicles under division
(B)(2) of this section, whichever is applicable, that normally is assessed by
the person who has prepared the motor vehicle or vehicle for removal, in order
to obtain release of the motor vehicle or vehicle. Upon payment of that fee,
the motor vehicle or vehicle shall be released to the owner or operator, and
upon its release, the owner or operator immediately shall move it so that:

(1)
If the motor vehicle was ordered into storage pursuant to division (A)(1) of
this section, it is not on the private residential or private agricultural
property without the permission of the person having the right to possession of
the property, or is not at the garage or place of storage without the
permission of the owner, whichever is applicable.

(2)
If the vehicle was being removed under authority of division (B)(2) of this
section, it is not parked on the private property established as a private
tow-away zone without the consent of the owner or in violation of any posted
parking condition or regulation.

(1)
If an owner of private property that is
established as a private tow-away zone in accordance with division (B)(1) of
this section or the authorized agent of such an owner removes or causes the
removal of a vehicle from that property under authority of division (B)(2) of
this section, the owner or agent promptly shall notify the police department of
the municipal corporation, township, or township or
joint police district in which the property is located, of the removal,
the vehicle's license number, make, model, and color, the location from which
it was removed, the date and time of its removal, the telephone number of the
person from whom it may be recovered, and the address of the place to which it
has been taken and from which it may be recovered.

(2)
Each county sheriff and each chief of police of a municipal corporation,
township, or township or joint police district
shall maintain a record of motor vehicles that the sheriff or chief orders into
storage pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section and of vehicles removed
from private property in the sheriff's or chief's jurisdiction that is
established as a private tow-away zone of which the sheriff or chief has
received notice under division (D)(1) of this section. The record shall include
an entry for each such motor vehicle or vehicle that identifies the motor
vehicle's or vehicle's license number, make, model, and color, the location
from which it was removed, the date and time of its removal, the telephone
number of the person from whom it may be recovered, and the address of the
place to which it has been taken and from which it may be recovered. Any
information in the record that pertains to a particular motor vehicle or
vehicle shall be provided to any person who, either in person or pursuant to a
telephone call, identifies self as the owner or operator of the motor vehicle
or vehicle and requests information pertaining to its location.

(3)
Any person who registers a complaint that is the basis of a sheriff's or police
chief's order for the removal and storage of a motor vehicle under division
(A)(1) of this section shall provide the identity of the law enforcement agency
with which the complaint was registered to any person who identifies self as
the owner or operator of the motor vehicle and requests information pertaining
to its location.

(E)
The owner of a motor vehicle that is ordered into storage pursuant to division
(A)(1) of this section or of a vehicle that is removed under authority of
division (B)(2) of this section may reclaim it upon payment of any expenses or
charges incurred in its removal, in an amount not to exceed ninety dollars, and
storage, in an amount not to exceed twelve dollars per twenty-four-hour period;
except that the charge for towing shall not exceed one hundred fifty dollars,
and the storage charge shall not exceed twenty dollars per twenty-four-hour
period, if the vehicle has a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating in
excess of ten thousand pounds and is a truck, bus, or a combination of a
commercial tractor and trailer or semitrailer. Presentation of proof of
ownership, which may be evidenced by a certificate of title to the motor
vehicle or vehicle also shall be required for reclamation of the vehicle. If a
motor vehicle that is ordered into storage pursuant to division (A)(1) of this
section remains unclaimed by the owner for thirty days, the procedures
established by sections
4513.61 and
4513.62 of the Revised Code shall
apply.

(F)
No
person shall remove, or cause the removal of, any vehicle from private property
that is established as a private tow-away zone under division (B)(1) of this
section other than in accordance with division (B)(2) of this section, and no
person shall remove, or cause the removal of, any motor vehicle from any other
private property other than in accordance with division (A)(1) of this section
or sections
4513.61 to
4513.65 of the Revised
Code.

(G)
Whoever
violates division (B)(3) or (F) of this section is guilty of a minor
misdemeanor.

(1)
The
sheriff of a county or chief of police of a municipal corporation, township, or
township or joint police district, within the sheriff's or chief's respective
territorial jurisdiction, upon complaint of any person adversely affected, may
order into storage any motor vehicle, other than an abandoned junk motor
vehicle as defined in section
4513.63 of the Revised Code,
that has been left on private residential or private agricultural property for
at least four hours without the permission of the person having the right to
the possession of the property. The sheriff or chief of police, upon complaint
of the owner of a repair garage or place of storage, may order into storage any
motor vehicle, other than an abandoned junk motor vehicle, that has been left
at the garage or place of storage for a longer period than that agreed upon.
When ordering a motor vehicle into
storage pursuant to this division, a sheriff or chief of police may arrange for the removal of the motor vehicle
by a towing
service and shall designate a storage
facility.

(2)
A towing service towing a motor vehicle under division
(A)(1) of this section shall remove the motor vehicle in accordance with that
division. The towing service shall deliver the motor vehicle to the location
designated by the sheriff or chief of police not more than two hours after the
time it is removed from the private property.

(3)
Subject to division (B) of this
section, the owner of a motor vehicle that has been removed pursuant to this
division may recover the vehicle only in accordance with division
(D) of
this section.

(4)
As used in
this section,
"private residential property" means private property on which is located one
or more structures that are used as a home, residence, or sleeping place by one
or more persons, if no more than three separate households are maintained in
the structure or structures. "Private residential property" does not include
any private property on which is located one or more structures that are used
as a home, residence, or sleeping place by two or more persons, if more than
three separate households are maintained in the structure or
structures.

If the owner or operator of a motor vehicle
that has been ordered into storage pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section
arrives after the motor
vehicle has been prepared for
removal, but prior to its actual removal from the property, the
towing service shall give the owner or operator
oral or written notification at the time of such
arrival that the vehicle owner or operator may pay a fee of not more than
one-half of the fee for the removal of the motor vehicle
under division (D)(1) of this section , in order to obtain release of the motor vehicle
. Upon payment of that fee,
the towing service shall give the vehicle owner or
operator a receipt showing both the full amount normally assessed and the
actual amount received and shall release the motor vehicle
to the owner
or operator . Upon its release, the owner or operator immediately
shall move it so that

it is not on the private
residential or private agricultural property without the permission of the
person having the right to possession of the property, or is not at the garage
or place of storage without the permission of the owner, whichever is
applicable.

(1)
Each county sheriff and each chief of police of a municipal corporation,
township, or township or joint police district shall maintain a record of motor
vehicles that the sheriff or chief orders into storage pursuant to division
(A)(1) of this section . The record shall include an
entry for each such motor vehicle that identifies the motor vehicle's
license number, make, model,
and color, the location from which it was removed, the date and time of its
removal, the telephone number of the person from whom it may be recovered, and
the address of the place to which it has been taken and from which it may be
recovered. A
sheriff or chief of police shall provide any information in the record
that pertains to a particular motor vehicle to any person who, either in person or
pursuant to a telephone call, identifies self as the owner or operator of the
motor vehicle and requests
information pertaining to its location.

(2)
Any person who
registers a complaint that is the basis of a sheriff's or police chief's order
for the removal and storage of a motor vehicle under division (A)(1) of this
section shall provide the identity of the law enforcement agency with which the
complaint was registered to any person who identifies self as the owner or
operator of the motor vehicle and requests information pertaining to its
location.

(i)
Not more than ninety dollars for the removal of the
motor vehicle. However, if the motor vehicle has a manufacturer's gross vehicle
weight rating in excess of ten thousand pounds and is a truck, bus, or a
combination of a commercial tractor and trailer or semitrailer, not more than
one hundred fifty dollars for the removal.

(ii)
Not more than twelve dollars per twenty-four-hour
period for the storage of the motor vehicle. However, if the motor vehicle has
a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating in excess of ten thousand pounds
and is a truck, bus, or a combination of a commercial tractor and trailer or
semitrailer, not more than twenty dollars per twenty-four-hour period for
storage.

(b)
Presentation of proof of ownership, which may be evidenced by a certificate of
title to the motor vehicle .

(2)
Upon presentation of proof of ownership, the owner of
a motor vehicle that is ordered into storage under division (A)(1) of this
section may retrieve any personal items from the motor vehicle without
retrieving the vehicle and without paying any fee. However, the owner may not
retrieve any personal item that has been determined by the sheriff or chief of
police, as applicable, to be necessary to a criminal investigation. For
purposes of division (D)(2) of this section, "personal items" do not include
any items that are attached to the motor vehicle.

(3)
If a motor vehicle that is ordered into storage
pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section remains unclaimed by the owner for
thirty days, the procedures established by sections
4513.61 and
4513.62 of the Revised Code
apply.

(1)
No
person shall remove, or cause the removal of, any motor vehicle from any private residential
or private agricultural property other than in accordance with division
(A)(1) of this section or sections
4513.61 to
4513.65 of the Revised
Code.

(2)
No towing service or storage facility shall fail to
comply with the requirements of this section.

(F)
This section does not apply to any private residential
or private agricultural property that is established as a private tow-away zone
in accordance with section 4513.601 of the Revised Code.

(G)
The owner
of any towing service or storage facility that violates division
(E) of this section is guilty of a minor
misdemeanor.

(A)
The owner of private property may establish a private
tow-away zone, but may do so only if all of the following conditions are
satisfied:

(1)
The owner posts on the owner's property a sign, that
is at least eighteen inches by twenty-four inches in size, that is visible from
all entrances to the property, and that includes all of the following
information:

(b)
A description of persons authorized to park on the
property. If the property is a residential property, the owner of the private
property may include on the sign a statement that only tenants and guests may
park in the private tow-away zone, subject to the terms of the property owner.
If the property is a commercial property, the owner of the private property may
include on the sign a statement that only customers may park in the private
tow-away zone. In all cases, if it is not apparent which persons may park in
the private tow-away zone, the owner shall include on the sign the address of
the property on which the private tow-away zone is located or the name of the
business that is located on the property designated as a private tow-away
zone.

(c)
If the private tow-away zone is not enforceable at all
times, the times during which the parking restrictions are
enforced;

(d)
The telephone number and the address of the place from
which a towed vehicle may be recovered at any time during the day or
night;

(e)
A statement that the failure to recover a towed
vehicle may result in the loss of title to the vehicle as provided in division
(B) of section 4505.101 of the Revised
Code.

Any owner of property that has been established as a private
tow-away zone under section
4513.60 of the Revised Code as
that section existed prior to the effective date of this section who does not
have a contract with a towing service for the removal of vehicles from the
property may retain existing private tow-away zone signs that comply with that
section for up to six months after the effective date of this section. At any
time, in order to comply with the requirements of division (B)(1) of this
section, such a property owner may modify the existing sign by affixing to the
existing sign stickers or an addendum in lieu of replacing the
sign.

(2)
A towing service ensures that a vehicle towed under
this section is taken to a location from which it may be recovered that
complies with all of the following:

(a)
It is located within twenty linear miles of the
location of the private tow-away zone, unless it is not practicable to take the
vehicle to a place of storage within twenty linear miles.

(c)
It is on or within a reasonable distance of a
regularly scheduled route of one or more modes of public transportation, if any
public transportation is available in the municipal corporation or township in
which the private tow-away zone is located.

(1)
If a vehicle is parked on private property that is
established as a private tow-away zone in accordance with division (A) of this
section, without the consent of the owner of the property or in violation of
any posted parking condition or regulation, the owner may cause the removal of
the vehicle by a towing service. The towing service shall remove the vehicle in
accordance with this section. The vehicle owner and the operator of the vehicle
are considered to have consented to the removal and storage of the vehicle, to
the payment of the applicable fees established under division (G) of this
section, and to the right of a towing service to obtain title to the vehicle if
it remains unclaimed as provided in section
4505.101 of the Revised Code.
The owner or lienholder of a vehicle that has been removed under this section,
subject to division (C) of this section, may recover the vehicle in accordance
with division (G) of this section.

(2)
If a municipal corporation requires tow trucks and tow
truck operators to be licensed, no owner of private property located within the
municipal corporation shall cause the removal and storage of any vehicle
pursuant to division (B) of this section by an unlicensed tow truck or
unlicensed tow truck operator.

(C)
If the owner or operator of a vehicle that is being
removed under authority of division (B) of this section arrives after the
vehicle has been prepared for removal, but prior to its actual removal from the
property, the towing service shall give the vehicle owner or operator oral or
written notification at the time of such arrival that the vehicle owner or
operator may pay a fee of not more than one-half of the fee for the removal of
the vehicle established under division (G) of this section in order to obtain
release of the vehicle. Upon payment of that fee, the towing service shall give
the vehicle owner or operator a receipt showing both the full amount normally
assessed and the actual amount received and shall release the vehicle to the
owner or operator. Upon its release, the owner or operator immediately shall
move the vehicle so that the vehicle is not parked on the private property
established as a private tow-away zone without the consent of the owner or in
violation of any posted parking condition or regulation.

(1)
Prior to towing a vehicle under division (B) of this
section, a towing service shall make all reasonable efforts to take as many
photographs as necessary to evidence that the vehicle is clearly parked on
private property in violation of a private tow-away zone established under
division (A) of this section.

The towing service shall record the time and date of the
photographs taken under this section. The towing service shall retain the
photographs and the record of the time and date, in electronic or printed form,
for at least thirty days after the date on which the vehicle is recovered by
the owner or lienholder or at least two years after the date on which the
vehicle was towed, whichever is earlier.

(2)
A towing service shall deliver a vehicle towed under
division (B) of this section to the location from which it may be recovered not
more than two hours after the time it was removed from the private tow-away
zone.

(1)
If an owner of private property that is established as
a private tow-away zone in accordance with division (A) of this section causes
the removal of a vehicle from that property by a towing service under division
(B) of this section, the towing service, within two hours of removing the
vehicle, shall provide notice to the sheriff of the county or the police
department of the municipal corporation, township, or township or joint police
district in which the property is located concerning all of the
following:

(2)
Each county sheriff and each chief of police of a
municipal corporation, township, or township or joint police district shall
maintain a record of any vehicle removed from private property in the sheriff's
or chief's jurisdiction that is established as a private tow-away zone of which
the sheriff or chief has received notice under this section. The record shall
include all information submitted by the towing service. The sheriff or chief
shall provide any information in the record that pertains to a particular
vehicle to a person who, either in person or pursuant to a telephone call,
identifies self as the owner, operator, or lienholder of the vehicle and
requests information pertaining to the vehicle.

(1)
When a vehicle is removed from private property in
accordance with this section, the owner of the towing service or storage
facility from which the vehicle may be recovered shall immediately cause a
search to be made of the records of the bureau of motor vehicles to ascertain
the identity of the owner and any lienholder of the motor vehicle. Subject to
division (F)(4) of this section, the owner of the towing service or storage
facility shall send notice to the vehicle owner and any known lienholder as
follows:

(a)
Within five business days of removal of the vehicle
from the private tow-away zone, if the vehicle has not yet been recovered, to
the owner's and lienholder's last known address by certified or express mail
with return receipt requested or by a commercial carrier service utilizing any
form of delivery requiring a signed receipt;

(b)
If the vehicle remains unclaimed thirty days after the
first notice is sent, in the manner authorized in division (F)(1)(a) of this
section;

(c)
If the vehicle remains unclaimed forty-five days after
the first notice is sent, in the manner authorized in division (F)(1)(a) of
this section.

(2)
Sixty days after any notice sent pursuant to division
(F)(1) of this section is received, as evidenced by a receipt signed by any
person, or the towing service or storage facility has been notified that
delivery was not possible, the owner of a towing service or storage facility,
if authorized under division (B) of section
4505.101 of the Revised Code,
may initiate the process for obtaining a certificate of title to the motor
vehicle as provided in that section.

(3)
A towing service or storage facility that does not
receive a signed receipt of notice, or a notification that delivery was not
possible, shall not obtain, and shall not attempt to obtain, a certificate of
title to the motor vehicle under division (B) of section
4505.101 of the Revised
Code.

(4)
With respect to a vehicle concerning which a towing
service or storage facility is not eligible to obtain title under section
4505.101 of the Revised Code,
the towing service or storage facility need only comply with the initial notice
required under division (F)(1)(a) of this section.

(i)
Not more than ninety dollars for the removal of the
vehicle. However, if the vehicle has a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight
rating in excess of ten thousand pounds and is a truck, bus, or a combination
of a commercial tractor and trailer or semitrailer, not more than one hundred
fifty dollars for the removal.

(ii)
Not more than twelve dollars per twenty-four-hour
period for the storage of the vehicle. However, if the vehicle has a
manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating in excess of ten thousand pounds and
is a truck, bus, or a combination of a commercial tractor and trailer or
semitrailer, not more than twenty dollars per twenty-four-hour period for
storage.

(iii)
If notice has been sent to the owner and lienholder as
described in division (F) of this section, a processing fee of twenty-five
dollars.

(2)
A towing service or storage facility in possession of
a vehicle that is removed under authority of division (B) of this section shall
show the vehicle owner, operator, or lienholder who contests the removal of the
vehicle all photographs taken under division (D) of this section. Upon request,
the towing service or storage facility shall provide copies of all photographs
in the medium in which the photographs are stored, whether paper, electronic,
or otherwise.

(3)
Upon presentation of proof of ownership, which may be
evidenced by a certificate of title to the vehicle, the owner of a vehicle that
is removed under authority of division (B) of this section may retrieve any
personal items from the vehicle without retrieving the vehicle and without
paying any fee. For purposes of division (G)(3) of this section, "personal
items" do not include any items that are attached to the
vehicle.

(H)
No towing service or storage facility shall remove, or
cause the removal of, any vehicle from private property that is established as
a private tow-away zone under this section, store such a vehicle other than in
accordance with this section, or otherwise fail to comply with any applicable
requirement of this section.

(I)
This section does not affect or limit the operation of
section 4513.60 or sections
4513.61 to 4613.65 of the
Revised Code as they relate to property other than private property that is
established as a private tow-away zone under division (A) of this
section.

(J)
The owner of any towing service or storage facility or
property owner that violates division (H) of this section is guilty of a minor
misdemeanor.

The sheriff of a
county or chief of police of a municipal corporation, township, or township
or joint police district, within the sheriff's or
chief's respective territorial jurisdiction, or a state highway patrol trooper,
upon notification to the sheriff or chief of police of such action and of the
location of the place of storage, may order into storage any motor vehicle,
including an abandoned junk motor vehicle as defined in section
4513.63 of the Revised Code, that
has come into the possession of the sheriff, chief of police, or state highway
patrol trooper as a result of the performance of the sheriff's, chief's, or
trooper's duties or that has been left on a public street or other property
open to the public for purposes of vehicular travel, or upon or within the
right-of-way of any road or highway, for forty-eight hours or longer without
notification to the sheriff or chief of police of the reasons for leaving the
motor vehicle in such place, except that when such a motor vehicle constitutes
an obstruction to traffic it may be ordered into storage immediately. The
sheriff or chief of police shall designate the place of storage of any motor
vehicle so ordered removed.

The sheriff or chief
of police immediately shall cause a search to be made of the records of the
bureau of motor vehicles to ascertain the owner and any lienholder of a motor
vehicle ordered into storage by the sheriff or chief of police, or by a state
highway patrol trooper, and, if known, shall send or cause to be sent notice to
the owner or lienholder at the owner's or lienholder's last known address by
certified mail with return receipt requested, that the motor vehicle will be
declared a nuisance and disposed of if not claimed within ten days of the date
of mailing of the notice. The owner or lienholder of the motor vehicle may
reclaim it upon payment of any expenses or charges incurred in its removal and
storage, and presentation of proof of ownership, which may be evidenced by a
certificate of title or memorandum certificate of title to the motor vehicle.
If the owner or lienholder of the motor vehicle reclaims it after a search of
the records of the bureau has been conducted and after notice has been sent to
the owner or lienholder as described in this section, and the search was
conducted by the owner of the place of storage or the owner's employee, and the
notice was sent to the motor vehicle owner by the owner of the place of storage
or the owner's employee, the owner or lienholder shall pay to the place of
storage a processing fee of twenty-five dollars, in addition to any expenses or
charges incurred in the removal and storage of the vehicle.

If the owner or
lienholder makes no claim to the motor vehicle within ten days of the date of
mailing of the notice, and if the vehicle is to be disposed of at public
auction as provided in section
4513.62 of the Revised Code, the
sheriff or chief of police, without charge to any
party, shall file with the clerk of courts of the county in which the
place of storage is located an affidavit showing compliance with the
requirements of this section. Upon presentation of the affidavit, the clerk,
without charge, shall issue a salvage certificate of title, free and clear of
all liens and encumbrances, to the sheriff or chief of police. If the vehicle
is to be disposed of to a motor vehicle salvage dealer or other facility as
provided in section
4513.62 of the Revised Code, the
sheriff or chief of police shall execute in triplicate an affidavit, as
prescribed by the registrar of motor vehicles, describing the motor vehicle and
the manner in which it was disposed of, and that all requirements of this
section have been complied with. The sheriff or chief of police shall retain
the original of the affidavit for the sheriff's or chief's records, and shall
furnish two copies to the motor vehicle salvage dealer or other facility. Upon
presentation of a copy of the affidavit by the motor vehicle salvage dealer,
the clerk of courts, within thirty days of the presentation, shall issue to
such owner a salvage certificate of title, free and clear of all liens and
encumbrances.

Whenever a motor
vehicle salvage dealer or other facility receives an affidavit for the disposal
of a motor vehicle as provided in this section, the dealer or facility shall
not be required to obtain an Ohio certificate of title to the motor vehicle in
the dealer's or facility's own name if the vehicle is dismantled or destroyed
and both copies of the affidavit are delivered to the clerk of
courts.

(A)
The
sheriff of a county or chief of police of a municipal corporation, township, or
township or joint police district, within the sheriff's or chief's respective
territorial jurisdiction, or a state highway patrol trooper, upon notification
to the sheriff or chief of police of such action and of the location of the
place of storage, may order into storage any motor vehicle, including an
abandoned junk motor vehicle as defined in section
4513.63 of the Revised Code,
that :

(1)
Has come into the possession of the sheriff,
chief of police, or state highway patrol trooper as a result of the performance
of the sheriff's, chief's, or trooper's duties;
or

(2)
Has been left on a public street or other
property open to the public for purposes of vehicular travel, or upon or within
the right-of-way of any road or highway, for forty-eight hours or longer
without notification to the sheriff or chief of police of the reasons for
leaving the motor vehicle in such place . However, when such a motor
vehicle constitutes an obstruction to traffic it may be ordered into storage
immediately unless either of the following
applies:.

(a)
The vehicle was involved in an accident and is subject
to section 4513.66 of the Revised
Code;

(b)
The vehicle is a commercial motor vehicle. If the
vehicle is a commercial motor vehicle, the sheriff, chief of police, or state
highway patrol trooper shall allow the owner or operator of the vehicle the
opportunity to arrange for the removal of the motor vehicle within a period of
time specified by the sheriff, chief of police, or state highway patrol
trooper. If the sheriff, chief of police, or state highway patrol trooper
determines that the vehicle cannot be removed within the specified period of
time, the sheriff, chief of police, or state highway patrol trooper shall order
the removal of the vehicle.

Subject to division (C) of this section, the sheriff
or chief of police shall designate the place of storage of any motor vehicle so
ordered removed.

(B)
If the sheriff, chief of police, or a state highway
patrol trooper issues an order under division (A) of this section and arranges
for the removal of a motor vehicle by a towing service, the towing service
shall deliver the motor vehicle to the location designated by the sheriff or
chief of police not more than two hours after the time it is
removed.

(1)
The
sheriff or chief of police immediately shall cause a search to be made of the
records of the bureau of motor vehicles to ascertain the
identity of the owner and any lienholder of a
motor vehicle ordered into storage by the sheriff or chief of police, or by a
state highway patrol trooper . Upon obtaining such identity, the
sheriff or chief of police shall send or cause to be sent
to the owner or lienholder at the
owner's or lienholder's last known address by certified mail with return
receipt requested, notice that informs the owner or
lienholder that the motor vehicle will be declared a nuisance and
disposed of if not claimed within ten days of the date of mailing of the
notice.

(2)
The owner or lienholder of the motor vehicle may
reclaim the
motor vehicle upon payment of any expenses or charges incurred in its
removal and storage, and presentation of proof of ownership, which may be
evidenced by a certificate of title or memorandum certificate of title to the
motor vehicle. Upon presentation of proof of ownership,
the owner of the motor vehicle also may retrieve any personal items from the
vehicle without retrieving the vehicle and without paying any fee.
However, the
owner may not retrieve any personal item that has been determined by the
sheriff, chief of police or a state highway patrol trooper, as applicable, to
be necessary to a criminal investigation. For purposes of division (C)(2) of
this section, "personal items" do not include any items that are attached to
the vehicle.

(3)
If the owner or lienholder of the motor vehicle
reclaims it after a search of the records of the bureau has been conducted and
after notice has been sent to the owner or lienholder as described in this
section, and the search was conducted by the owner of the place of storage or
the owner's employee, and the notice was sent to the motor vehicle owner by the
owner of the place of storage or the owner's employee, the owner or lienholder
shall pay to the place of storage a processing fee of twenty-five dollars, in
addition to any expenses or charges incurred in the removal and storage of the
vehicle.

(D)
If the owner
or lienholder makes no claim to the motor vehicle within ten days of the date
of mailing of the notice, and if the vehicle is to be disposed of at public
auction as provided in section
4513.62 of the Revised Code, the
sheriff or chief of police, without charge to any party, shall file with the
clerk of courts of the county in which the place of storage is located an
affidavit showing compliance with the requirements of this section. Upon
presentation of the affidavit, the clerk, without charge, shall issue a salvage
certificate of title, free and clear of all liens and encumbrances, to the
sheriff or chief of police. If the vehicle is to be disposed of to a motor
vehicle salvage dealer or other facility as provided in section
4513.62 of the Revised Code, the
sheriff or chief of police shall execute in triplicate an affidavit, as
prescribed by the registrar of motor vehicles, describing the motor vehicle and
the manner in which it was disposed of, and that all requirements of this
section have been complied with. The sheriff or chief of police shall retain
the original of the affidavit for the sheriff's or chief's records, and shall
furnish two copies to the motor vehicle salvage dealer or other facility. Upon
presentation of a copy of the affidavit by the motor vehicle salvage dealer,
the clerk of courts, within thirty days of the presentation, shall issue to
such owner a salvage certificate of title, free and clear of all liens and
encumbrances.

(E)
Whenever a
motor vehicle salvage dealer or other facility receives an affidavit for the
disposal of a motor vehicle as provided in this section, the dealer or facility
shall not be required to obtain an Ohio certificate of title to the motor
vehicle in the dealer's or facility's own name if the vehicle is dismantled or
destroyed and both copies of the affidavit are delivered to the clerk of
courts.

(F)
No towing service or storage facility shall fail to
comply with this section.

(A)
A vehicle owner may bring a civil action against a
towing service or storage facility that violates section
4513.60 , 4513.601, or 4513.68 of
the Revised Code. If a court determines that the towing service or storage
facility committed the violation, the court shall award the vehicle owner the
following:

(3)
If it is a third or subsequent violation, two thousand
five hundred dollars. In addition, the court shall order the public utilities
commission to revoke the towing service's or storage facility's certificate of
public convenience and necessity for six months. The commission shall comply
with the order.

(B)
Upon expiration of the six-month revocation under
division (A)(3) of this section, a court shall not consider any violation
committed by the towing service or storage facility prior to the revocation for
purposes of a civil action initiated after the expiration of the six-month
revocation.

(C)
In addition to an award made under division (A) of
this section, if a court determines that a towing service or storage facility
committed a violation that caused actual damages, the court shall award the
vehicle owner three times the actual damages and reasonable attorney's
fees.

Unclaimed motor
vehicles ordered into storage pursuant to division (A)(1) of section
4513.60 or section
4513.61 of the Revised Code shall
be disposed of at the order of the sheriff of the county or the chief of police
of the municipal corporation, township, or township or
joint police district to a motor vehicle salvage dealer or scrap metal
processing facility as defined in section
4737.05 of the Revised Code, or to
any other facility owned by or under contract with the county, municipal
corporation, or township, for the disposal of such motor vehicles, or shall be
sold by the sheriff, chief of police, or licensed auctioneer at public auction,
after giving notice thereof by advertisement, published once a week for two
successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county
or as provided in section
7.16 of the
Revised Code. Any moneys accruing from the disposition of an unclaimed
motor vehicle that are in excess of the expenses resulting from the removal and
storage of the vehicle shall be credited to the general fund of the county,
municipal corporation,
township, or joint police district, as the case may
be.

"Abandoned junk
motor vehicle" means any motor vehicle meeting all of the following
requirements:

(A)
Left on
private property for forty-eight hours or longer without the permission of the
person having the right to the possession of the property, on a public street
or other property open to the public for purposes of vehicular travel or
parking, or upon or within the right-of-way of any road or highway, for
forty-eight hours or longer;

(E)
Having a fair market value of one thousand five hundred dollars or less.

The sheriff of a
county or chief of police of a municipal corporation, township, or township
or joint police district, within the sheriff's or
chief's respective territorial jurisdiction, or a state highway patrol trooper,
upon notification to the sheriff or chief of police of such action, shall order
any abandoned junk motor vehicle to be photographed by a law enforcement
officer. The officer shall record the make of motor vehicle, the serial number
when available, and shall also detail the damage or missing equipment to
substantiate the value of one thousand five hundred dollars or less. The
sheriff or chief of police shall thereupon immediately dispose of the abandoned
junk motor vehicle to a motor vehicle salvage dealer as defined in section
4738.01 of the Revised Code or a
scrap metal processing facility as defined in section
4737.05 of the Revised Code which
is under contract to the county, township, or municipal corporation, or to any
other facility owned by or under contract with the county, township, or
municipal corporation for the destruction of such motor vehicles. The records
and photograph relating to the abandoned junk motor vehicle shall be retained
by the law enforcement agency ordering the disposition of such vehicle for a
period of at least two years. The law enforcement agency shall execute in
quadruplicate an affidavit, as prescribed by the registrar of motor vehicles,
describing the motor vehicle and the manner in which it was disposed of, and
that all requirements of this section have been complied with, and, within
thirty days of disposing of the vehicle, shall sign and file the affidavit with
the clerk of courts of the county in which the motor vehicle was abandoned. The
clerk of courts shall retain the original of the affidavit for the clerk's
files, shall furnish one copy thereof to the registrar, one copy to the motor
vehicle salvage dealer or other facility handling the disposal of the vehicle,
and one copy to the law enforcement agency ordering the disposal, who shall
file such copy with the records and photograph relating to the disposal. Any
moneys arising from the disposal of an abandoned junk motor vehicle shall be
deposited in the general fund of the county, township, or the municipal
corporation, as the case may be.

Notwithstanding
section 4513.61 of the Revised Code, any
motor vehicle meeting the requirements of divisions (C), (D), and (E) of this
section which has remained unclaimed by the owner or lienholder for a period of
ten days or longer following notification as provided in section
4513.61 of the Revised Code may be
disposed of as provided in this section.

(A)
No person shall willfully leave an abandoned junk motor vehicle as defined in
section 4513.63 of the Revised Code on
private property for more than seventy-two hours without the permission of the
person having the right to the possession of the property, or on a public
street or other property open to the public for purposes of vehicular travel or
parking, or upon or within the right-of-way of any road or highway, for
forty-eight hours or longer without notification to the sheriff of the county
or chief of police of the municipal corporation, township, or township
or joint police district of the reasons for
leaving the motor vehicle in such place.

For purposes of this
section, the fact that a motor vehicle has been so left without permission or
notification is prima-facie evidence of abandonment.

Nothing contained in
sections 4513.60 ,
4513.61 , and
4513.63 of the Revised Code shall
invalidate the provisions of municipal ordinances or township resolutions
regulating or prohibiting the abandonment of motor vehicles on streets,
highways, public property, or private property within municipal corporations or
townships.

(B)
Whoever
violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor and shall also be
assessed any costs incurred by the county, township, joint police district, or municipal corporation in
disposing of the abandoned junk motor vehicle that is the basis of the
violation, less any money accruing to the county, township, joint
police district, or
municipal corporation from this disposal of the vehicle.

(A)
For purposes of this section, "junk motor vehicle" means any motor vehicle
meeting the requirements of divisions (B), (C), (D), and (E) of section
4513.63 of the Revised Code that
is left uncovered in the open on private property for more than seventy-two
hours with the permission of the person having the right to the possession of
the property, except if the person is operating a junk yard or scrap metal
processing facility licensed under authority of sections
4737.05 to
4737.12 of the Revised Code, or
regulated under authority of a political subdivision; or if the property on
which the motor vehicle is left is not subject to licensure or regulation by
any governmental authority, unless the person having the right to the
possession of the property can establish that the motor vehicle is part of a
bona fide commercial operation; or if the motor vehicle is a collector's
vehicle.

No political
subdivision shall prevent a person from storing or keeping, or restrict a
person in the method of storing or keeping, any collector's vehicle on private
property with the permission of the person having the right to the possession
of the property; except that a political subdivision may require a person
having such permission to conceal, by means of buildings, fences, vegetation,
terrain, or other suitable obstruction, any unlicensed collector's vehicle
stored in the open.

The sheriff of a
county, or chief of police of a municipal corporation, within the sheriff's or
chief's respective territorial jurisdiction, a state highway patrol trooper, a
board of township trustees, the legislative authority of a municipal
corporation, or the zoning authority of a township or a municipal corporation,
may send notice, by certified mail with return receipt requested, to the person
having the right to the possession of the property on which a junk motor
vehicle is left, that within ten days of receipt of the notice, the junk motor
vehicle either shall be covered by being housed in a garage or other suitable
structure, or shall be removed from the property.

No person shall
willfully leave a junk motor vehicle uncovered in the open for more than ten
days after receipt of a notice as provided in this section. The fact that a
junk motor vehicle is so left is prima-facie evidence of willful failure to
comply with the notice, and each subsequent period of thirty days that a junk
motor vehicle continues to be so left constitutes a separate offense.

(A)
If a motor vehicle accident occurs on any highway, public street, or other
property open to the public for purposes of vehicular travel and if any motor
vehicle, cargo, or personal property that has been damaged or spilled as a
result of the motor vehicle accident is blocking the highway, street, or other
property or is otherwise endangering public safety, the sheriff of the county,
or the chief of police of the municipal corporation, township, or township or
joint police district, in which the accident occurred, a state highway patrol
trooper, the chief of the fire
department having jurisdiction where the accident occurred
, or a duly
authorized subordinate acting on behalf of an official specified above,
without consent of the owner but with the approval of the law enforcement
agency conducting any investigation of the accident, may remove the motor vehicle if the motor vehicle is
unoccupied, cargo, or personal property from the portion of the highway, public
street, or property ordinarily used for vehicular travel on the highway, public
street, or other property open to the public for purposes of vehicular
travel.

(1)
Except as provided in division (B)(2) or (3) of this section, no employee of
the department of transportation, sheriff, deputy sheriff, chief of police or
police officer of a municipal corporation, township, or township or joint
police district, state highway patrol trooper, chief of a fire department,
fire fighter,
or a duly authorized subordinate acting on behalf of such an official who
authorizes or participates in the removal of any unoccupied motor vehicle,
cargo, or personal property as authorized by division (A) of this section is
liable in civil damages for any injury, death, or loss to person or property
that results from the removal of that unoccupied motor vehicle, cargo, or
personal property. Except as provided in division (B)(2) or (3) of this
section, if the department of transportation or a sheriff, chief of police of a
municipal corporation, township, or township or joint police district, head of
the state highway patrol, chief of a
fire department, or a duly authorized subordinate
acting on behalf of such an official authorizes, employs, or arranges to
have a private tow truck operator or towing company remove any unoccupied motor
vehicle, cargo, or personal property as authorized by division (A) of this
section, that private tow truck operator or towing company is not liable in
civil damages for any injury, death, or loss to person or property that results
from the removal of that unoccupied motor vehicle, cargo, or personal
property .
Further, the department of transportation, sheriff, chief of police, head
of the state highway patrol, fire
department chief, or a duly authorized subordinate
acting on behalf of such an official is not liable in civil damages for
any injury, death, or loss to person or property that results from the private
tow truck operator or towing company's removal of that unoccupied motor
vehicle, cargo, or personal property.

(2)
Division (B)(1) of this section does not apply to any person or entity involved
in the removal of an unoccupied motor vehicle, cargo, or personal property
pursuant to division (A) of this section if that removal causes or contributes
to the release of a hazardous material or to structural damage to the
roadway.

(3)
Division
(B)(1) of this section does not apply to a private tow truck operator or towing
company that was not authorized, employed, or arranged by the department of
transportation, a sheriff, a chief of police of a municipal corporation,
township, or township or joint police district, the head of the state highway
patrol, a chief of a fire
department, or a duly authorized subordinate acting on
behalf of such an official or to a private tow truck operator or towing
company that was authorized, employed, or arranged by the department of
transportation, a sheriff, a chief of police of a municipal corporation,
township, or township or joint police district, the head of the state highway
patrol, or a chief of a fire department, or a duly
authorized subordinate acting on behalf of such an official to perform
the removal of the unoccupied motor vehicle, cargo, or personal property and
the private tow truck operator or towing company performed the removal in a
reckless or willful manner.

(C)
As used in this section, "hazardous material" has the same meaning as in
section 2305.232 of the Revised Code.

(A)
If
a motor vehicle accident occurs on any highway, public street, or other
property open to the public for purposes of vehicular travel and if any motor
vehicle, cargo, or personal property that has been damaged or spilled as a
result of the motor vehicle accident is blocking the highway, street, or other
property or is otherwise endangering public safety, a public safety official may do either
of the following without the consent of the
owner but with the approval of the law enforcement agency conducting any
investigation of the accident :

(1)
Remove, or order the removal of, the motor
vehicle if the motor vehicle is unoccupied, cargo, or personal property from
the portion of the highway, public street, or property ordinarily used for
vehicular travel on the highway, public street, or other property open to the
public for purposes of vehicular travel.

(2)
If the motor vehicle is a commercial motor vehicle,
allow the owner or operator of the vehicle the opportunity to arrange for the
removal of the motor vehicle within a period of time specified by the public
safety official. If the public safety official determines that the motor
vehicle cannot be removed within the specified period of time, the public
safety official shall remove or order the removal of the motor
vehicle.

(1)
Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this section, the department of transportation, any employee of the department of transportation, or a
public safety official who authorizes or participates in the removal of
any unoccupied motor vehicle, cargo, or personal property as authorized by
division (A) of this section, regardless of whether the
removal is executed by a private towing service, is
not liable for civil
damages for any injury, death, or loss to person or property that results from
the removal of that unoccupied motor vehicle, cargo, or personal property.
Further,
except as provided in division (B)(2) of this section, if a public safety
official authorizes, employs, or arranges to have a private
towing
service remove any unoccupied motor vehicle, cargo, or
personal property as authorized by division (A) of this section, that private
towing
service is not liable for civil
damages for any injury, death, or loss to person or property that results from
the removal of that unoccupied motor vehicle, cargo, or personal property.

(2)
Division (B)(1) of this section does not apply to any of the following:

(a)
Any person or entity involved in the removal of
an unoccupied motor vehicle, cargo, or personal property pursuant to division
(A) of this section if that removal causes or contributes to the release of a
hazardous material or to structural damage to the roadway

;

(b)
A private towing service
that was not authorized, employed, or arranged by a public safety official
to remove an unoccupied motor vehicle, cargo, or
personal property under this section;

(c)
Except as provided in division (B)(2)(d) of this
section, a private towing service that was authorized, employed, or
arranged by a public safety official to perform
the removal of the unoccupied motor vehicle, cargo, or personal property
but the
private towing
service performed the removal in a
negligent manner;

(d)
A private towing service that was authorized,
employed, or arranged by a public safety official to perform the removal of the
unoccupied motor vehicle, cargo, or personal property that was endangering
public safety but the private towing service performed the removal in a
reckless manner.

(A)
As used in this section, "towing service" means any
for-hire motor carrier that is engaged on an intrastate basis anywhere in this
state in the business of towing a motor vehicle over any public highway in this
state.

(B)
No person shall operate a towing vehicle for a towing
service and no person who owns a towing vehicle used by a towing service or has
supervisory responsibility over a towing vehicle used by a towing service,
shall permit the operation of a towing vehicle used by a towing service, unless
both of the following apply:

(1)
The towing service holds a valid certificate of public
convenience and necessity as required by Chapter 4921. of the Revised Code;
and

(2)
The certificate number and business telephone number
is visibly displayed on both the left and right front doors of the towing
vehicle.

(A)
Except as provided in division (B) of this section,
prior to removing a motor vehicle from an accident scene on any street or
highway or any other property open to the public for purposes of vehicular
travel or parking, a towing service shall provide an estimate of the price for
the removal to the person who was operating the motor vehicle at the time of
the accident unless that person is incapacitated, seriously injured, or
otherwise unavailable to accept the estimate. The towing service shall not
submit such an estimate to the repair facility or storage facility to which the
motor vehicle is transported unless the person who was operating the motor
vehicle at the time of the accident meets one of the conditions specified
above.

(B)
The towing service shall ensure that any estimate
provided under division (A) of this section includes the fees, services to be
rendered, and destination of the vehicle.

(C)
Division (A) of this section does not apply if all of
the following are applicable:

(1)
The towing service removes a motor vehicle from an
accident scene.

(2)
The removal is conducted pursuant to a contract
between the towing service and the issuer of a policy of motor vehicle
insurance covering the motor vehicle.

(3)
The contract requires the towing service to be paid
directly by issuer of the policy.

(D)
If a towing service fails to provide an estimate at an
accident scene as required by this section, the towing service shall not charge
fees for the towing and storage of the motor vehicle removed from the accident
scene that exceed twenty-five per cent of the fees authorized under division
(G)(1)(b) of section 4513.601 of the Revised Code for a motor vehicle removed
from a private tow-away zone.

(E)
Any storage facility that accepts vehicles towed from
accident scenes shall conspicuously post a notice at the entrance to the
storage facility that states the limitation on fees established under division
(D) of this section.

(A)
The owner of a storage facility shall ensure that the
facility remains open during both of the following periods of time to allow a
vehicle owner or lienholder to retrieve a vehicle in the possession of the
storage facility:

(1)
Any time during which a towing service is towing a
vehicle pursuant to section
4513.60 , 4513.601, or
4513.61 of the Revised Code and
the vehicle will be held by the storage facility;

(2)
Between nine o'clock in the morning and noon on the
day after any day during which the storage facility accepted for storage a
vehicle towed under section
4513.60 , 4513.601, or
4513.61 of the Revised
Code.

(1)
The owner of a storage facility that accepts for
storage vehicles towed under section
4513.60 , 4513.601, or
4513.61 of the Revised Code
shall ensure that a notice is conspicuously posted at the entrance to the
storage facility that states the telephone number at which the owner or
lienholder of a vehicle may contact the owner or a representative of the
storage facility for the purpose of retrieving a vehicle when the storage
facility is closed. The owner of the storage facility also shall provide that
telephone number to the sheriff of a county or chief of police of a municipal
corporation, township, or township or joint police district. The owner of the
storage facility shall ensure that a process is in place for purposes of
answering calls at all times day or night.

(2)
After receiving a call from the owner or lienholder of
a vehicle who seeks to recover the vehicle, the owner of the storage facility
shall ensure that, within three hours of receiving the phone call, a
representative of the storage facility is available to release the vehicle upon
being presented with proof of ownership of the vehicle, which may be evidenced
by a certificate of title to the vehicle, and payment of an after-hours vehicle
retrieval fee established under section
4921.25 of the Revised Code and
all other applicable fees.

(C)
No owner of a storage facility shall fail to comply
with division (A) or (B) of this section.

(B)
Whoever violates the sections of this chapter that are specifically required to
be punished under this division, or any provision of sections
4513.03 to
4513.262 or
4513.27 to
4513.37 of the Revised Code for
which violation no penalty is otherwise provided, is guilty of a minor
misdemeanor .